


The Avengers: Frost Battle

by Vanilla98



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: And Tony can lift Mjolnir too, Angst, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bruce Banner can lift Mjolnir, Bucky can kinda lift it too, But he recovers, Domestic Avengers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Falling In Love, Fix-It, Fluff, Friendship/Love, He is very worthy, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt/Comfort, Jotunn | Frost Giant, Kid Avengers, M/M, Magic, Major Character Injury, Parent Steve Rogers, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark can wield Mjolnir, de-aged avengers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-09-01 02:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 51,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8604226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanilla98/pseuds/Vanilla98
Summary: After Bruce Banner brings a magical stone to Earth from Asgard, the Avengers re-assemble to face a possible threat. If there are cracks on that stone, it can de-age anyone who touches the cracks. It can also open portals if used correctly. But to face the potential threat, the Avengers must come together. Will they, after a terrible Civil War, unite together to face the foes no single hero could?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is set after Civil War (movie).  
> That stone is not the Time stone. It's just something out of my imagination. I enjoyed writing this story. I hope you all will enjoy reading it. :)  
> I'll update the chapters when I get time because, ugh school.

Thanks to the Bifrost, Bruce Banner was transported back to Earth. He knew it was stupid of him to ignore Natasha and fly off to God knows where. But he somehow arrived in Asgard. Thor showed him around. Bruce did feel peaceful in Asgard. However, he had this constant feeling that he needed to go home. He was glad Ultron was destroyed. And then a Civil War occurred which split up his team into two factions. 

Then Asgard had an attack from the Frost Giants, which Thor described as ‘ruthless’. The Frost Giants were there for the special stones, which could de-age any living being without affecting the time. So anyone could turn from 20 to 10 and still live in the present time. The special stones were split into two. They should not have cracks as the crack was the one that de-aged anyone who touched it. So the stones were supposed to be smooth. The Frost Giants had obtained one half of it. They were looking for the other half. The combination of both stones will make the owner powerful . 

The owner can de-age or even wipe anyone out of existence without altering the present time. He could also open portals to other worlds or dimensions. 

Bruce did not want to turn green. He just wanted to get out of there. Thor told him to exit Asgard. But before he ran to the Bifrost, he went past the sacred garden. He remembered Thor telling him about the stones and where the other half was hidden. He went into the sacred garden. It was buried near a small pond. Bruce dug it out. He decided to take it with him so that the Frost Giants will not be so powerful. He saw a tiny crack on the stone but that didn't change his mind. 

“Banner!” Thor called out. He entered the garden. “What are you doing? I told you to get to the Bifrost!” 

“Thor! If I take this away to Earth…” Bruce held out the stone.

“No… It is too risky. These beasts might attack Earth just for the stone. And I can’t let that happen.” Thor was about to drag Bruce out.

“They will be powerless! Look, try to get that other stone. I can take this and bury it somewhere on Earth!” Bruce suggested. Thor looked at him and at the stone. An explosion behind them took them both by surprise. “I will take this. Inform me if these monsters are coming to Earth, Thor!” 

“There is no more time. You need to go, Banner. Come I will bring you to Heimdall!” Thor exclaimed as another ground shaking explosion was heard. 

Both of them ran across the Rainbow Bridge. “Heimdall, Bifrost!” Thor shouted. “Be safe. And unite the Avengers.   
We need them. Now that the other half is going to Earth, these beasts may go there just to retrieve it. And we need each other. I will come once the time is right.” Bruce nodded. Thor gave a sad smile. He was very devastated when he heard about the rift between his friends. 

Heimdall activated the Bifrost and Bruce was transported to this suburb within seconds. He was still holding on to the stone when he landed. 

“Oh my God...” Bruce whispered. He was lost. It was night and it was getting cold. Bruce didn’t know where he had landed. He was on the middle of the road. He was happy, for a second when he realized he did not de-age. 

In front of him was an empty field. Behind him were houses. He decided to go to one of them. He ran towards the house which had a suspended light bulb for a porch light, switched on.


	2. Re-assembling The Avengers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers are uniting!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this story, Clint is not married. He is single and loves food and coffee, like in the comics and cartoon.

The big quinjet landed in Wakanda, near T’Challa’s lab. The rear door opened wide. Bright light filled the interior of the jet. Tony was seated on the pilot’s seat. He was looking outside. There were many shrubs and trees. It looked serene. The sounds of birds chirping could be heard too.

Natasha Romanoff walked to Tony. He had managed to get to her once Bruce asked for the Avengers to assemble again. Only both of them were in the jet. “Are you still nervous, Tony?” she asked him. 

Tony continued to look at the greenery outside. “I… I actually don’t know, Nat.” He sighed. 

He turned to look at her. Natasha was looking at him, with a soft smile. He managed a weak one. She ruffled Tony’s hair. She knew that Tony was not ready to face the other Avengers. But he chose to anyways. It had to be something serious if Bruce asks for the team to come together again. 

She pulled him into a hug. Tony hugged back. For a brief moment, they held onto each other, tightly. Tony was fighting back the tears. Natasha knew he might breakdown at any moment. She let go of him, only to bend down to his eye level. She cupped his face with her palms.

“Hey Shellhead,” she said softly. “I’m sorry about everything. But sometimes, you need to let go.” 

Tony’s eyes were red. He nodded his head. He knew that if he were to say even one word, his voice would break and waterworks would emerge. “Tony, the people coming are your friends. Friends fight. But they also know how to get back together. Take your time. But don’t neglect them for too long. Alright?” Natasha patted his cheeks and got up. 

Tony mustered the courage to say, “Yeah. Thanks Nat.”

“But I don’t understand why you want Bucky too.” Natasha looked at him. “You were mad at him.”

Tony stared at her for a brief moment. Then he turned back to the shrubs and trees. “I uh, I’d like to amend things.”

“You’ve got something for him?” she asked him. His answer did not satisfy her. 

“Maybe.” 

The computer screen on the side of the pilot’s seat lit up. Both of them turned to look at it. 

“Mr. Stark?” T’Challa’s voice was loud and clear. “We are coming down.”

“Your highness, thank you.” Tony spoke. 

It was very difficult to get hold of T’Challa. After many negotiations within 2 days, did he let Tony know where the secret Avengers were hidden. Tony had to beg for him to allow them to come back. He told them how out of all the people, Bruce Banner had asked for the team to assemble. He also assured T’Challa that there was a safe place for them to hide once they left Wakanda. 

In the end, the king had asked the secret Avengers if they were ok to leave. They discussed thoroughly and were fine with it. It took very long for Steve to decide on whether Bucky will be out with them or not. Tony must have really convinced T’Challa to let Bucky out. Steve was surprised. But he was glad to have his best friend out of cryogenic sleep. After all, if Tony wanted Bucky out, there must be a good reason. Or at least, Steve hoped.

“Get ready Tony!” Natasha sighed. She was smiling.

“I am always ready, Nat.” Tony smirked. She was slightly glad that Tony was back to his normal self.   
Within a few minutes, voices could be heard. 

The secret Avengers and T’Challa stopped near the back entrance of the quinjet.

“Please take care, Captain. I am still not sure about Barnes,” T’Challa spoke. His hands were behind his back. 

“I will your highness. Thank you,” Steve replied with a light smile. “I will watch out for Bucky. I still do trust Tony.” 

“Wow the quinjet is big,” Scott Lang was marveling at it. Wanda smiled at that.

“Of course, it’s the Avengers’ property!” Clint retorted. “So, are we boarding?”  
Steve nodded at that. 

“You alright?” Sam asked Bucky, who looked tired. Bucky managed to nod his head. Sam smiled at that. 

“Thank you your highness,” Natasha spoke. She stepped out of the jet while the others boarded it. 

“Don’t mention it, Ms. Romanoff. Just stay low and take care of them,” T’Challa said. “Especially Bucky.”  
Natasha nodded. “They are our responsibility.”

“Do call the Panther when needed.” T’Challa stepped back. 

“We will.” Natasha and the king shook hands. She then walked into the jet. T’Challa walked back to his lab. 

The back door slowly shut. “We’re all set to go Tony.” Natasha said. 

Tony nodded his head. He started the engines. After a slow rumble, the engines came to life. The jet slowly lifted off. Within a few seconds, they were on their way to the States.


	3. Going Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They are reaching USA.

It was very quiet in the jet. The air was filled with tension. No one wanted to say anything. The jet had just left the continent of Africa. They were flying above water now. Tony could put the jet in auto pilot mode. But he chose not to. He decided to have manual control so that he did not have to turn back to face the others.

Steve could not bear the silence. So, he decided to break it. “Where are we headed to?” He asked no one in particular.

Natasha turned to Tony. She too did not know about the location yet. Tony felt the stare. He cleared his throat. “East Somerville, Boston.” 

“Hey uh, if it’s not going to hurt your ego or anything, can you drop me in New York?” Scott asked. “I’d like to go back to my daughter first.” Natasha glared at Scott while Steve immediately started to look at his palms. 

Tony was silent for a long time. And then he spoke. “Yeah I can.” He then changed the course to New York. 

Sam walked to where Tony was seated. He looked out the window. “The skies are clear.” Sam bent down more to take a better look.

“Yeah,” Tony started. “It’s uh, perfect for a flight.”

“Yeah.” Sam turned to Tony. “How is Rhodes?” 

Tony turned to look at him. “He is fine. Recovering. I mean, the exoskeleton is helping him a lot. He is at the Tower with Vision now.”

Sam nodded. After a while, he added, “You know, I feel like staying at the Tower with Rhodes for a while, instead of you know, going to Boston.”

Tony was looking at the clear skies. “You can, I am dropping Scott at the Tower. You can join him. But we may need you soon.”

“Yeah. Thanks Tony.” Sam was about to walk back. But he stopped and bent down slightly. “I’m sorry about what happened.”

“It’s alright,” Tony replied. There was a very light smile on his face. Sam couldn’t help but smile at that. He walked back to where the rest of them were seated. 

Bucky shifted himself closer to Steve. He then went on to place his head on Steve’s right shoulder. He closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. Steve patted his best friend’s hand. After so long did Steve see a more peaceful looking Bucky. He couldn’t help but stare at him as he drifted off into a peaceful slumber. 

Scott was planning on how to get back to his daughter. Sam was listening intently to Scott’s plan, although he was getting sleepier. Natasha and Clint were seated side by side, in silence. It was not some uncomfortable silence, it was quiet and peaceful. Definitely comfortable. Wanda was walking around the jet. She was touching the interior of jet as she marveled at the complex design of it. She turned her head towards the pilot seat. She was looking at Tony’s back. 

She was staring at his back for a long time. She was feeling utter sadness. It was as if she was breaking down, like how she did for Pietro’s death. It was pain. And the pain was growing in her chest, making it difficult for her to breathe. She let out a loud sob. When she realized what she just did, she covered her mouth. 

“Wanda.” Natasha placed her hand on Wanda’s shoulder. Wanda turned, face coated with tears. “Is everything alright? “

“I could read him,” Wanda said. More tears fell. “He is very broken. He is… is sad.” She pointed at Tony. Steve turned to look at him. His heart sank.

Natasha gave Wanda a small pat. She then walked towards Tony. 

Tony’s computer screen lit up. F.R.I.D.A.Y was asking if he wanted to put the plane on autopilot mode. Tony rejected it. He wanted to be on manual. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t want to look up. Not when his eyes were red from fighting back the tears of frustration and just sadness.

“Tony,” Natasha gasped when she saw his eyes.

“I’m trying Nat.” Even while fighting back the tears, Tony let out a small smile. Natasha ruffled his hair. She didn’t care if the others were looking or not. She gave Tony a hug. She didn’t let go for a while. Tony hugged her back. He was just glad someone knew how he was feeling.

“We have reached New York, boss.” F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice suddenly came on. 

Tony let go of Natasha. He wiped the tears. “Yeah, noticed. We are landing at the Avengers Tower.” 

“Noted, boss.” The AI replied. “ETA 2 minutes.”

“Alright F.R.I.D.A.Y.” Tony shifted back on his seat. He was looking out of the window.

After giving Tony a pat on his back, Natasha walked back. All of them, even Bucky, were looking at her. They looked at her as if she owed them some explanation or an answer for a question not asked. She gave them a light smile and a firm nod.


	4. Disembarking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They land at the Tower first.

The jet made a perfect landing at the Tower. Both Scott and Sam were standing by the back door, which opened up slowly. The interior of the Tower came into view. Both of them took some time to get adjusted to the light.

“Both your suits are here.” Natasha handed them their items. “Take care of yourselves. Stay low both of you.”

“We will,” Sam said, while taking his suit from Natasha. Scott nodded. “See you all.” He told all of them in the jet.

After a long time did Tony turn back. He nodded at them then turned back.

“See you Sam and Scott,” Steve sighed. Wanda and Bucky gave them a nod.

Natasha, Sam and Scott walked out of the jet. She wanted to accompany them for a while. Wanda and Clint stepped out of the jet for some fresh air.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, how is our fuel capacity doing?” Tony questioned the AI. He was writing something down furiously. 

“The fuel is enough for 16 consecutive flights to East Somerville from Manhattan,” the AI replied. Tony nodded. This was more than enough for them to get to where Bruce was.

“Is this the tower, Steve?” Bucky asked. Steve nodded.

Bucky was looking inside with awe. He could see some doors. He also saw some expensive lighting. But he didn’t want to go in. _Not yet_ he thought to himself. However, he got up and joined both Wanda and Clint outside.

Steve finally stood up. He stretched pretty loudly. This caught Tony’s attention. He turned to look at Steve, who let out a sigh and turned towards the pilot seat. They both made eye contact, just staring into each other’s soul.

“Yeah?” Steve managed to ask after about five seconds passed.

Tony managed to break the solid eye contact. He shook his head. “Y…you had a good 100-year nap eh, to…to let out a guttural stretch like the one you just did.” He turned back to his calculations, which he was writing vigorously.

“Actually it was 70,” Steve corrected him.

“Pardon?”

“I slept for 70 years. Not a 100.” Steve said. Tony had a very light smile on his face, which he was not aware of.

Steve started to look at the control systems. All the buttons and switches looked very intricate. He touched one of the buttons. “It looks very complex.” Steve said softly. He actually said it to himself but it was loud enough for Tony to hear.

“It is,” Tony agreed. He was still staring at his calculations. Steve turned to look at him.

Tony looked very different whenever he was thinking. The pen held between his index and middle finger, with the clicker placed exactly on the middle of his lower lip, Steve never failed to notice how unique this was. This reminded him of the nights the team spent in the Tower together. Tony was always in his lab, while the rest of the team argued about whether to have a movie night or not. Steve was the one who often went down to check on Tony. He always seemed to be trying to improve his suits. Whenever he was considering a design, the pen would be held in this unique way. Steve always smiled at that.

Steve had tears in his eyes reminiscing, although he was smiling at the way Tony was holding his pen. The team was so united then. Now it was trying to get back together, with so much of effort and difficulty.

The screen near the pilot seat lit up. Tony looked up briefly before turning to the screen. While Steve turned away.

“Tony you there?” Bruce’s voice came out. “Where are you guys?”

“Banner!” Tony grinned. “We had to stop at New York. Scott and Sam wanted to get down.”

“I see. Well I need you down here to look at the stone with me,” Bruce sighed. A girl’s giggling could be heard at the background. Bruce turned to his back with a smile.

“There is a lab there?” Tony asked. The prospect of a lab made Tony excited. Bruce turned back at the question.

“Not much of a lab Tony. Just the basics.”

“That’s enough then.” Tony laughed.

“Come quick. It’s boring without my science buddy.” Bruce pouted, acting like he was sad.

“Sarcastic much.” Tony smiled. The screen went blank.

“Seems like he misses you,” Steve said. The tears were gone.

Tony nodded his head. He then turned to look at Steve. “You alright, Cap?”

Steve looked at him. Perhaps he saw the tears so he was concerned. “I’m alright Tony. You?”

Tony had a very light smirk. “You tell _me_ Cap. Am I alright?”

Steve opened his mouth to answer. But no words came out. He felt a pang in his chest. He wanted to tell Tony that he was sorry that he was not alright. The letter only was not enough, he knew. But he couldn’t bring himself to. The more he looked at Tony, the guiltier he felt.

“We are ready to go boys.” Natasha walked in with Clint, Wanda and Bucky.

Tony turned back to his papers. Steve continued to look at Tony. He was wishing he could say everything he wanted to.

The back door slowly shut, the light disappearing. 

“Steve?” Bucky placed a hand on his shoulder.

Steve turned to face Bucky. He let out a smile and walked back. Tony knew Bucky was looking at him. But he didn’t turn. He didn’t want to turn.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, set course to East Somerville,” Tony spoke. He clicked on some buttons and adjusted some switches.

“Course is all set, boss.” The AI answered.

The jet slowly lifted off. Scott and Sam watched the jet fly off from the common room.

They were on their way to Boston, Massachusetts.

 


	5. East Somerville

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They reach their destination. Their safe house looks pretty cozy.

The quinjet landed on an empty field, just opposite the house Bruce had given coordinates to. The morning sun was shining bright in East Somerville. The sky was azure blue, with little or no clouds hanging around.

All of them got out, except for Tony. He was shutting down the engines and the systems. He double checked the condition of his engines. Once the sound died down, he got out. He looked at the jet one last time, then pressed a button on a device which looked like a very small remote control. The back door shut, with a click.

“I’d like to keep you in stealth mode. Stay invisible for the time being,” Tony mumbled to himself. He pressed another button and the jet became invisible.

“Wow,” Bucky whispered.

“So which house is it?” Clint asked. “They all look the same to me you know.”

“It’s the one with 3 floors, the third being an attic,” Tony answered. The lot of them started to walk while dragging their luggage, Tony taking the lead. “Plus they all don’t look the same. They all have structural differences. Like the house we’re going to has a semi-circle window for the attic. The house right beside it has a square shaped window.” Tony pointed out. Steve had a very small smile on his face. This was the typical Tony.

“Yeah, yeah Einstein,” Clint mumbled. Natasha was laughing to herself.

They reached the house. The lawn was pretty small and very neat. The path up the entrance of the house was a short one. There were some little stairs up to the front door. Once up on the porch, there was a marble table with two chairs on the left. There was a suspended light bulb right above it. The house looked pretty grand on the outside.

“Are you sure Bruce picked _this_ house?” Clint questioned. He was still awe-struck.

“According to the coordinates he sent me, yes,” Tony answered while looking at his phone.  

Tony then proceeded to ring the doorbell. It was the typical bell sound.

“They seem friendly,” Wanda said while looking at the seemingly healthy plants lined up neatly on the side of the lawn.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Bucky pointed out.

The door opened. A girl, in her mid-twenties, was holding the door. She was wearing jeans and a white crop top. Her face lit up when her eyes met that of Tony Stark’s.

“Kayla!” she called out. She turned and took a step back. “Tell Brucey-Brucey his companions are here!” She was practically squealing.

“Brucey-Brucey?” Natasha’s face was all scrunched up.

“Oh hi.” A more soft but firm voice came. “Do come in, Avengers.”

They all entered the house. The house seemed cozy. There was a very short corridor which led to the stairs from the entrance. On the right side of the house, there was a sofa set which was big and full of cushion. The kitchen was on the left. It was fully open with no door to it. There was a door right beside the kitchen. There was another door at the back of the house.

The excited girl shut the front door. The gang placed their luggage near the stairs and then sat down on the fluffy sofa set.

“Hi, I’m Kayla and this is Linda. We live here.” Kayla introduced herself, her voice as soft yet firm as ever.

“Alone?” Steve looked at them. “As in, no parents?”

She opened her mouth to answer the question, but didn’t say anything. She closed it and her lips managed to curve into a smile. She took a breath and said, “Actually, uh, my dad, he left this house when I was 10. It was just my mum and I until we took Linda in.”

“Yeah.” Linda entered the conversation. “My parents, they died in a car accident.” Tony stiffened. “Just by the highway outside this neighborhood. You guys must have passed it; aerial view.” She pointed up.

It became very quiet suddenly. Steve was looking at the floor, his face hot. Bucky was trying his best not to run out of the house.

The others knew about the situation. They kept very quiet. Clint, who was seated beside Tony, couldn't help but squeeze Tony's right hand. They were in opposite teams, yes, but they were still friends at the end of the day. 

Natasha was looking at Tony while Wanda was looking at Bucky. She felt as if everyone had their regrets. She saw the tears in Bucky's eyes when Tony was watching the footage of his parents. She saw Steve stopping Tony. She also saw Tony's face after realizing that Steve knew about his parents all along. She saw Steve dropping his shield and walking away with Bucky, who had lost his metal arm. 

She pushed Steve's, Bucky's and Tony's thoughts out of her mind. She could only wonder how the three of them would come together. They seem willing to but not ready to.

“I was what, about 17?” Linda asked Kayla. “Wow, it has been 7 years since I moved in here!” Linda clapped her hands. Her face was lit up with the joy of that sudden friendly realization.

“Right Linda,” Kayla agreed. She could feel a slight amount of tension in the air. She turned towards the gang. “My mum is on vacation now. She was uh, stressed, so she went to Asia to de-stress. She will be back in another 3 weeks’ time. So, what would you all like to have?”

“Gosh I’m starving. Have a breakfast set?” Clint asked.

“Clint...” Natasha whispered.

“What? I don’t know about you guys. But I’m starving!” Clint retorted.

“We have a few slices of toasted bread with peanut butter.” Kayla offered.

“That’ll do.” Clint jumped up. He followed both the girls into the kitchen. Tony was shaking his head.

“I’ll bring you all some lemonade,” Kayla said. She took a plastic plate and placed the toasts neatly. She offered them to Clint, who looked very grateful. “Oh Linda, tell Bruce they are here.”

“I thought you already did!” Linda asked while running up the stairs.

“A reminder won’t hurt, honey,” Kayla whispered to herself.

She took the glasses of lemonade to the sofa. She was giving each of them their drinks. Everyone looked thirsty, hungry and very tired.

“Brucey, your avenging pals are here!” Linda’s voice came from upstairs.

Tony choked on the lemonade.

“Brucey?” Natasha asked, not believing that Bruce approved of nicknames.

“They uh, Linda has nicknames. Actually Bruce encouraged us to call him that.” Kayla offered Bucky his drink while answering.

Natasha was definitely in denial. Steve let out a small laugh, but pretended to cough as he surely didn’t want to earn the Black Widow _death stare_.

“Do you like the toast?” Linda asked Clint while running down the stairs.

“They’re so good! I could eat this all day!” Clint answered with a mouthful of toast. “Do you have coffee?”

“Kayla, where is the lab?” Tony stood up.

“I’ll bring you. It’s at our basement,” Kayla smiled. She opened the door next to the kitchen and brought Tony down.

There was a flight of stairs. Kayla helped switch on the lights once they reached down. The basement was huge. Just one-third of the basement had the makeshift lab, courtesy of Bruce Banner.

The other two-thirds of it had gym equipment. There was a beam holding a punching bag. There were 3 other bags neatly lined up. Beside the extra bags was a treadmill and an exercise bike. There was also a shelf near the stairs. It had boxing gloves, a few chest expanders, ankle and wrist weights, and six pairs of hand grips. On the corner of the room, there were eight pairs of dumbbells.

Tony let out a breath.

“My dad and Linda’s dad were fitness enthusiasts,” Kayla commented. “No one really uses them now. But I clean them in case mum decides to donate them some day.”

“Do the machines work?” Tony asked pointing at the treadmill.

“They do,” Kayla replied.

As much as Tony was intrigued, he knew he had work to do. He walked towards the lab. The stone, which Bruce lamented about over the phone, was on a metal dish. It was oval and grey.

Upstairs, Linda was washing, preparing for lunch.

“Linda!” A voice came from the landing on level 2. “Where is Tony Stark?”

All of them seated on the sofa turned towards the stairs.

“He is at the lab,” Linda replied.

Something crashed on top. “Shit!” Bruce shouted as he ran down the stairs. His towel was strapped around his waist, which he was clutching and he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He was still wet from the shower, there was water dripping down from his hair. He came to a complete halt when he saw the gang seated on the sofa. He totally forgot to consider the possibilities of the gang coming face-to-face with him. None of his teammates had seen him in this state before, maybe except Natasha.

A snort came from the kitchen. It was Clint. Steve was trying not to laugh.

“I’ll see you guys later again,” Bruce said and rushed towards the door leading to the basement. Natasha was staring at him, wide-eyed.

“That was not awkward at all,” Wanda remarked. Bucky was chuckling to himself.


	6. Science Bros

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The relationship between Bruce and Tony. And a house tour for the benefit of the team.

Bruce ran down the basement stairs. “Don’t touch anything!” He exclaimed as he stopped near the shelf.

Tony immediately threw the magnifying glass he was holding onto the table. He raised both his hands up and looked at Bruce. Then he started to laugh. Kayla left the basement, chuckling.

“Wow Bruce,” Tony spoke while trying to control his laughter. “You look so sexy!” He snorted and started to laugh again.

“Tony please. I panicked.” Bruce’s face was very red.

“Why? Because I came down to the lab?” Tony wiped his tears. He was still trying to stop laughing. “You told me so much about the stone! I was only trying to look for cracks, which are present. The outer layer of the stone is grey but deep inside, it’s purple. That’s unique you know.”

Bruce heaved out a huge sigh. His worst fear was the stone having more cracks than what it already had. He knew that he was lucky enough not to turn into his younger self when he came to earth from Asgard. Definitely the ride back must have taken a toll on the stone, there _should_ be more cracks, and there were. He had been checking for them every day ever since he arrived in Boston.

“You’re worried.” Tony pointed at Bruce. He walked away from the lab table. “Is it the tiny cracks?”

“Yeah,” Bruce nodded. “I need to brief the team about this before anyone touches and becomes young.”

He looked at the floor. Tony knew that if Bruce was feeling dejected, he would look down. He walked towards the sad man and placed a hand on his shoulder. He gave it a small squeeze.

“I didn’t want to endanger anyone, Tony,” Bruce said. His voice was soft; filled with guilt and fear.

“You didn’t,” Tony assured him. “Look at us, we’re all still ourselves. We didn’t de-age!” Bruce gave a small smile. “So quit the worrying and join us.”

Bruce nodded.

“With some clothes on, sexy boy!” Tony laughed as he went up the stairs, while Bruce blushed furiously.

…

The team was seated in the living room after a filling lunch. Linda insisted they tried her meatball spaghetti, which she prepared. They liked it. It was delicious and just the meal they needed to placate their famished stomachs. After this, Clint suggested they had a “house tour” so that they could get to know their hideout better. Both Kayla and Linda agreed to this.

They started with level 1. It was just the living room and an open kitchen. Then the door to the basement and the back door. They went to the back first. Bruce followed them for the tour. It was his second time looking around the house. He figured he could walk around with the team. Outside, he was looking at the ground. He was planning to bury the stone deep just a meter away from the back door. Tony kind of knew what Bruce might have been thinking. While the whole team walked around the small backyard, which had a 4-seat swing set and a mini mahogany table with matching chairs, Tony walked to Bruce.

He was examining the ground. “So it’s here huh?” Tony asked.

“What is?” Bruce looked up. But both being geniuses, they were on the same page within seconds. “Yeah, the stone. This seems the right place.”

“Why not somewhere far away?” Tony looked around the area. “If those buffoons come, they won’t attack here.”

Bruce stood up. “That’s true. But the Frost Giants couldn’t find the stone when it was buried in Asgard. So chances are, if we bury it here and they come, they won’t be able to find it. Plus, if Thor comes, it’ll be easier to retrieve it.”

Tony nodded his head, impressed. Bruce felt a stare. He turned towards the swing set. Natasha was seated on it and Clint was pushing it. She was staring at Bruce, but once she got his eye contact, she looked away.

“Go and talk to her, Bruce.” Tony was watching both of them. “Don’t lose her.” He looked up the bright blue sky. It was very difficult for Tony to digest the fact that Pepper left him. But he decided to get over with it, even though it was difficult to, and just be professional about it. So they were still talking, but as friends. He didn’t want to blame anyone, although his deep conscience was pointing fingers at one person.

“Will do.” Bruce turned to Tony. “Hey, you alright?”

Tony stared at Bruce blankly. Of course he was fine, or at least that’s what he always told anyone who asked him if he was ok. “I am. I think, I am really interested to look at where I’ll be sleeping.”

Bruce nodded. “Hey uh Kayla, I think we can go to level 2. Basement last.” He said. 

They went to level 2 next. They turned right from the landing and walked into a big room. It already had the spare beds spread out with blankets. It had a wooden cupboard and a small window, from which you could look at the backyard of the house and at the roofs of the other houses.

“This is where the guys will be,” Linda said.

“So we have a girls’ room then,” Tony was smiling cheekily. He earned a scowl from Natasha.

“Yeah, it’s the master bedroom, opposite this.” They all turned back.

The master bedroom had a queen size bed. The room was painted royal red and had a bathroom attached to it. It had a huge window, from which one could look at the side of the house. There was a big wooden cupboard, which was locked. Opposite the bed was a powder table. Their mother sure knew how to live luxuriously.

“Wow,” Bucky whispered.

Beside this room was another bathroom. Further down, there was the room shared by Linda and Kayla. It had two single beds and one cupboard. Both had study tables opposite their beds. Kayla slept near the window while Linda slept near the door. The room was baby pink and had posters of movies or celebrities pasted all over them.

The team then took the stairs up to level 3. It was just a door to the attic. There were boxes, taped up and neatly arranged. The attic window was covered with a small white curtain. It looked very plain.

“It’s all my dad’s and her parents’ stuff, taped up,” Kayla explained.

They were all walking down together to the basement, after an awkward silence started to fill in the attic.

“Bruce, I’ve got an idea,” Tony was saying while walking to the second floor landing.

“What will that be?” Bruce asked.

“How about you share the master bedroom with Nat?” Tony whispered.

Bruce stopped and raised his eyebrows. “Then where do you think Wanda will sleep?”

“The couch, or, or with the girls. Come on Bruce!”

“I don’t think Wanda should be hindered. She needs full rest- “

“I can understand.” Wanda’s voice was behind them. “I can take the couch. I like it anyways.”

“Wanda please,” Bruce was begging.

“No Bruce. You should really save your relationship.” Wanda walked towards the stairs. She stopped for a brief moment. “It’s beautiful and worth a save.” She said softly. She continued to go down the stairs.

“I’ll tell Kayla and Linda.” Tony was walking down along with the rest of the team. Bruce sighed and joined them.

Steve really liked the basement. His face lit up when he saw all the fitness equipment available. He could come here whenever he felt stressed. But he also took into consideration that the lab was right opposite the mini gym.

“I uh, I need to talk to the team about the stone in a while,” Bruce said. “That can kind of wait though.” Bruce could feel the awkwardness hanging in the air. But he decided to ignore it.

They all nodded. The house tour ended, leaving all of them feeling exhausted.

“Nat,” Tony started. They were walking up to their rooms. “Bruce will share the room with you.”

She froze. She was just looking at Tony, as if he said something crazier than what he usually says. “What?” she managed to ask.

“He has a lot of things to say.” Tony continued. “So he will be with you. Wanda happily agreed to take the couch.”

Natasha wanted to disagree. But she also wanted to know what Bruce had to say, even after disconnecting the line from the quinjet that day. She was interested, so after a few minutes of thinking, she eventually agreed.

Tony told this to Bruce, who heaved a huge sigh of relief. He thanked Tony for his help.

Their luggage bags were shifted to the rooms. Tony decided to take the second couch. So it was Clint, Bucky and Steve in one room, and, Natasha and Bruce in the other.

The gang took a nap at 5 in the evening. Only Clint, Tony and Bruce woke up for dinner.


	7. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get sorted out between Bruce and Natasha. Most importantly, between Steve, Bucky and Tony.

It was 5 in the morning. Natasha woke up because it got slightly colder than usual. She stretched till she felt better, then she let out a yawn. She sat at the side of the bed. The curtains were not pulled together, so she could look outside. She could see the night sky. It looked very peaceful, with a star shining extra bright occasionally. She smiled a little, feeling at ease. After about two minutes, she realized her companion’s bed lamp was on. She turned behind.

Bruce was looking at her. He didn’t expect her to turn abruptly. In fact, he was admiring her side profile, when he noticed a small smile appearing. He was enjoying that moment, just watching her smile.

“You seem to enjoy waking up,” Bruce managed. He looked down at his sheets.

Natasha didn’t say anything. She turned back to face the window. After a while, she spoke.

“What are you doing?” she asked him.

“I... I couldn’t sleep. So I was reading a book.” He shut the book and placed it on the table beside him. “Look.” Bruce started.

“I want to say, I’m sorry,” he said. Natasha turned to look at him.

“For what?” she asked softly. She knew the answer but wanted him to say it.

“For just, leaving you. Without saying anything. Just abruptly, flying off to some other dimension,” Bruce said. He stuttered slightly but managed to say it.

Natasha smiled. Bruce being honest was enough for her to tell him that everything was alright.

“You know,” Bruce began. “I should have listened to you and should have turned the jet around. I went to a mystical land, came back and put all of us in danger, because of taking something that isn’t even mine, worst, it doesn’t even belong on earth.”

“Bruce.” Natasha touched his arm. “You did what you thought was right. That’s all any of us can do at a given situation.”

He knew she was right. “I feel like I shouldn’t have taken that stone.”

Natasha smiled at him. She knew that this Bruce was vulnerable and prone to blaming himself for every bad thing happening around the globe. She squeezed his arm. “You didn’t want it to land on the wrong hands. Maybe it was meant for you to bring it here.”

“And what?” he asked. He cleared his throat and continued. “And destroy our world?”

“Bruce, we are still here. No one has come claiming for the stone. Even if they do, they won’t get the chance to even touch it. Do you know why?” she asked him.

Bruce was looking at her. He raised one of his eyebrows, indicating that he wanted to know the answer.

“It’s because the Avengers are here.” She let go of his arm. “We united because _you_ called. The differences are being worked out. And when our team unites, we can take down any force.”

Bruce chuckled. “You believe in all these crazy people huh?”

She too let out a small laugh. “I have faith. Especially in a team that is family to me.”

Bruce went closer to Natasha. He was sitting beside her. They both got hold of each other’s hands. Bruce had a very tight grip. Natasha could take it though. They sat like that for a long time, in silence, that was more than comfortable for the both of them. They enjoyed being in each other’s presence. She was happy knowing that Bruce was always here, no matter what. He was happy knowing that Natasha had forgiven him and was with him at the present moment. Natasha then hugged Bruce. It had been a difficult time in both of their lives. The hug between them symbolized that no matter what happened, they would always be there for one another. Natasha squeezed him while Bruce was trying to blink back his tears.

Then both of them heard a very loud _thud_ , followed by Steve’s voice shouting, “Tony!”

Both of them broke free from one another and rushed to the door. Once they opened it, they were confused at what was going on.

Tony was lying down at the top of the stairs, probably the _thud_ came when he fell down. Steve let out a yawn before helping the confused and disheveled Tony up. Both of them had messy bed hair.  

“He was sleepwalking,” Steve said, still holding onto the smaller man.

Tony was looking around, trying to remember how he even got to this place. Once he was awake, pain took over. He moved away from Steve. “Ouch, did you bash me up?” He was glaring at Steve with a small pout.

“Nope,” Steve sighed. He didn’t give Tony that much of an eye contact. “But you were sleepwalking. I was trying to stop you from going down the stairs but you being you, took one step and fell down.”

Tony sighed. He was holding his left elbow while staggering back to the room without a word. He wanted to take the couch but Clint insisted that he slept in the room instead. Plus, Wanda took the bigger couch, leaving Tony with the two-seater one, which wasn’t really accommodating. Hence he moved up, leaving Wanda and the 2 girls down.

“Is everything alright?” Kayla asked from below. She looked like she was still half asleep.

“Yeah,” Steve said. “Go back to bed guys. Things are fine.” He went back in and shut the door.

“Well, that went well,” Natasha blinked while Bruce yawned.

…

Just 3 hours after Tony fell, the whole team was up. They were not much for sleep because of mission calls at odd hours. Some of them had showered and were getting ready for breakfast. Linda and Kayla were setting the table.

Tony was still in the room. He was looking down at the backyard. Wanda and Natasha were on the swing set. They were laughing at something. Both of them were talking with strong hand gestures, which meant they were alright with one another. Clint joined them after a while. He gave the swing a push, which made both the women laugh out with joy. They looked like little kids, having fun. It had been very long since Tony saw his teammates this relaxed. He was enjoying the moment; this was a break they all needed, earned in fact.

“Tony?” Steve called him. He was standing behind Tony, arms crossed. “Breakfast is ready. And uh...”

Tony turned. His eyes were red. He sniffled and took a step towards Steve. Steve forgot his question when he saw his teammate in this state.

“I… I am not good with this s… sort of things,” Tony stumbled, but he continued anyways. “I uh, I want to make something.” Tony bit his tongue. He was not supposed to say _make something_. He jumbled up the phrases _make an apology_ and _say something_.

“Make something? Like, cooking?” Steve asked. He was confused because breakfast was already made.

“No,” Tony practically whined. Tears formed in his eyes. It was easy for him to say something snarky, being the King of Timing. But apologies were never his strong suit. “Please give me a few minutes, Steve. I want to make an apology.” Steve nodded.

“Stevie, you’re needed downstairs.” Bucky poked his head around the door. “Oh I’ll be right ba- “

“No… no I… I need you too, Barney.” Tony slapped his forehead with his palm. This was not going smoothly.

“What?” Both Bucky and Steve asked in unison. They’ve had a lot of nicknames for each other, Barney was never one of them.

“Shit!” Tony cursed under his breath. But he managed to calm himself down. After a deep breath he continued. “I meant, Bucky Barnes, got mixed up. I want to get to my point straight. Ok, I… I am really sorry. For everything.”

Bucky nodded slowly. But Steve knew that Tony was not done.

“It was bad. What happened at the airport and at Siberia.” Tony’s eyes were filled with tears. They were threatening to fall if he made any swift eye movement. “Rhodey is paralyzed. And you lost your arm because of me. He left his shield. I was all alone, in the cold shelter, with just thoughts of realizing my parents’ died because someone killed them and I destroyed the relationship I treasured the most…”

“Tony it wasn’t your fault,” Steve said.

“I… Can I finish?” Tony asked, he practically whispered this out. He didn’t expect either of them to react. He thought they’ll just nod their heads and leave the room. Steve then told him to finish. “So I was all alone, and I thought maybe, just maybe if I hadn’t overreacted so much, things could have ended better. I am so sorry, both of you. I, I really am. I’m trying to amend myself but, each time I try, it doesn’t seem to work. I’m a constant disappointment. I hope both of you understand, and I hope I can earn the relationships back.”

Tony’s face was covered with tears. When he realized that, he immediately wiped his face using the sleeves of his sweatshirt. Bucky’s eyes had tears too. He stepped forward.

“I really want to fix things.” Bucky started. He placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “I’m really sorry for what I did then. It wasn’t me. I couldn’t control and they were doing things to me, which made it worse. And the arm, it’s fine man. Really. It’s ok really, although I’d like to have one.”

Bucky pulled Tony for a hug. He hugged him tightly, assuring him that he was forgiven and that he was fine. Tony returned the hug. He buried his face into Bucky’s shoulders. Bucky was patting Tony’s back slowly. After a while, they let go. Both men were wiping their tears.

Steve was just standing and watching in silence. He was very quiet.

“I should go,” Bucky muttered. He left the room.

Steve was observing Tony. He then walked towards Tony, who looked so fragile that one touch could send him crying for hours.

“It’s ok,” Steve whispered. That was when the tears formed in his eyes. “You don’t have to take the blame for everything. You don’t have to bear the weight of this whole world, alone. And you’re _not_ a disappointment, at least, to me. I told you, I will be here. You’re not alone, Tony. Come here.”

Steve pulled Tony for a hug this time. That was when Tony completely lost it. He was shaking under Steve’s arms while trying to hold back the sounds he could make while crying. Steve was really trying to be strong. He patted the back of Tony’s head while hugging him, tightly. That was all this man, a little boy at heart, needed; a hug and a few words of assurance.

Tony rested his head near Steve’s chest. He was breathing heavily. He wanted to stop crying, to man up. But he didn’t or more of couldn’t. In fact, Steve’s hug was so tight that Tony doubted he could easily move away. He realized that it had been very long since someone held him this way.

After a while, Steve gave the smaller man a firm pat on the back and let go. Tony wiped his tears.

“Actually uh, I came up to ask if you wanted milk or orange juice,” Steve said after recalling the question he wanted to ask Tony before he started to apologize.

“Oh,” Tony blinked. “I’m more of a coffee guy. Well I can settle it downstairs.”

“It’s _we_ , partner.” Steve squeezed Tony’s left shoulder.

Both men left the room and headed downstairs, where Clint was arguing about why he needed six pieces of toasts early in the morning.


	8. The Briefing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team gets to know about the stone and the relations between them are improving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and the comment. I hope to be posting more of this!

The team was gathered at the basement that late afternoon. Bruce insisted on wanting to inform them about the stone’s capabilities. They were staring at it intently. Kayla and Linda were seated on the basement stairs. They wanted to listen to the briefing too.

“This stone, has the power to de-age a person and the people around the person, if they are standing very near the wielder,” Bruce began. “It’s not exactly the stone itself. It is the cracks, which are already present on the stone, that can de-age. And this is just one half of the stone.”

“What do you mean by one half?” Steve asked.

“This is half of the full version of the stone. Meaning, there are two of them.” Bruce replied.

“And who has the other half?” Natasha inquired.

“The leader of the Frost Giants,” Bruce said. He was looking at the stone.

“Thor didn’t say when he was coming here?” Steve crossed his arms.

“No.” Banner replied. “He couldn’t give an exact time. When he sent me to the Bifrost, Asgard was under massive attack from the Frost Giants. They were looking for this stone.” He pointed at it.

“And you took it because?” Clint asked with his eyebrows raised.

After a sigh, Bruce said, “so that Thor can save Asgard from those beasts. I wanted to help him. And I didn’t want the enemy to be powerful.”    

“So you bought some time…” Wanda said. Bruce nodded.

“What else can this stone do?” Clint asked. He seemed intrigued by it.

“The stone alone can de-age or wipe a person out of existence, and if used correctly, it can even open portals to other worlds. It can only get worse if combined.” Bruce let out a sigh. “But there is a catch. The stone in its single form is weak.”

“Did you just say this single piece of stone is _weak_?” Clint was astounded.

“Yeah,” Bruce responded. “So even if portals are opened using this one piece, it’ll be a weak one. The Frost Giants _want_ to be strong.”

“So much for being weak,” Clint muttered.

Steve was shaking his head. No one needed so much of power in their lives. This was not only dangerous for the person wielding it but also for the people around the wielder.

“Do we have a plan?” Steve questioned.

“We do.” Tony finally spoke. This was the fourth time he was listening to Bruce speaking about the stone. Hence Tony had nothing much to say.

“The first thing tomorrow morning, we are burying that stone at the back of the house, deep.” Bruce stated.

“Why not now?” Natasha asked.

“I remember Thor saying something about burying it early in the morning will reduce the chances of them finding it. They buried it early morning in Asgard, and the Frost Giants couldn’t find the stone. It’s safer I guess.”

“Alright, we’ll gather here again tomorrow morning then.” Steve was going to the basement stairs.

The girls saw them disperse and got up. Tony and Bruce stayed behind in the lab. The rest of them went up.

“It’s so sad I can’t even touch it for an experiment,” Tony muttered.

“Trust me, you wouldn’t want to.” Bruce snickered.

…

It was 8pm. The night was getting colder. But this didn’t stop the team from relaxing outside the house. They were gathered at the backyard. Bruce, Natasha, Clint and Wanda were on the swing set. They were talking and seemed very relaxed.

Tony, Steve and Bucky were seated at the marble table, adjacent to the swing. They were just introduced to a dog, Chippy, a medium sized mix-breed. He goes around the neighborhood. Tonight, the girls found him on their backyard. Chippy immediately became Bucky’s favorite. They were playing together, Bucky tickling his belly and Chippy yelping in joy.

“So the stone can send me to the age where I was a pain in my dad’s ass?” Clint hollered. Wanda was more amused by his laughter than the point made.

“Possibly,” Bruce answered while taking a sip of orange juice Linda had kindly prepared. “You wouldn’t want to go back.”

“Debatable.” Clint pretended to be thinking.

But being his partner, Natasha knew best. “I know that face, Clint.” She gave him a very subtle glare. “You want to touch the stone.”

Bruce was observing Clint. He could see that Clint wanted to touch the stone so bad. But was controlling himself.

“Nah,” Clint said assuring. “As much as I want to, I don’t want to.”

Wanda nodded. He seemed to be telling the truth.

“Better not to,” Bruce looked away.

At that exact moment, Tony fell backwards from his chair. The girls had burst into hysterics while Steve was coughing. It seemed that Steve had choked on the juice while Tony made a ruckus of himself.

“Come on Tony!” Bucky was laughing while holding Chippy. “Chippy just wanted to play with you.”

Tony rolled over. He looked like he was in pain. “Yeah, right Chippy.” He hissed.

“They got along didn’t they?” Natasha wondered. She was so worried that they might not get along. But now, things looked slightly different.

Bucky was helping Tony up. Chippy was happily wagging his tail at Steve, who carried him.

“I’m so glad they are alright,” Wanda asserted. She was smiling. She was ready to let the past be the past and work with all of them again.

Tony realized that the four of them were looking at him from the swing set. He exhaled loudly and gave them all a thumbs up. Clint decided to go and help him up.

They walked back to the living room.

“Gosh my arm hurts,” Tony complained as he sat on the couch.

“Yeah you fell down man,” Clint spoke. He was examining his palm.

They were silent for a long time. It was getting pretty uncomfortable for both of them. Tony could hear Chippy barking outside and Bruce’s loud laughter.

“You know if you have something to say…” Tony started. He was giving his temples a massage. “You can just spill it.”

After a sigh, Clint spoke. “Look man, whatever I said in the raft prison, I hope you didn’t take it to heart. I was in a bad shape and I was pretty pissed getting arrested. And then you came, it just got messier. So I’m sorry.”

Tony was giving him a strange look as he got a load off his chest. “It’s… it’s alright really. I’m sorry too. I must have looked like some dick right.”

“Yeah, Steve’s dick,” Clint muttered.

“What?” Tony asked. He didn’t hear it properly.

“No uh, nothing. So between us, it’s settled right? I mean, no more trust issues and sides to choose from right?” Clint asked. He offered Tony his right hand for a handshake.

“Of course it’ll take time, Clint. But for now, we’re fine. Oh and no more sides.” Tony smiled as they shook hands.

“I am so glad, Clint,” Wanda spoke. She was standing behind the couch Tony was seated on.

“I’m just glad things are settled. I don’t want another fight or war again,” Clint sighed.

“Me too,” Wanda turned to Tony. “I owe you an apology. I’ll be glad to work together with all of us, again.”

Tony nodded. “Sorry Wanda. I just wanted to protect you, but I ended up overdoing it. And uh, I really hope things are alright between you and Vision.”

Wanda smiled. It was a genuine one, only formed when anyone talks to her about Vision. “We can work on it. And I’m sorry too, Tony.” Tony nodded his head.

“Glad you fellows are making it up,” Natasha said as she walked into the kitchen. She poured more juice into a cup.

“Of course Nat!” Clint grinned. “Hey everything between us is settled right?”

“Yeah,” Natasha thought. “Maybe except for the part where I was thrown across the airport tarmac when tackling Clint.” She shrugged.

Wanda’s face changed. She seemed flustered. “I am sorry for that.”

“No it’s alright,” Natasha chuckled. “It did hurt. But we can get over it.”

“Is that for Bruce?” Clint asked. He was giving her a cheeky grin.

“Of course.” Natasha exited the kitchen. Wanda and Tony exchanged a smirk.

“Was juice the only drink Bruce has asked so far?” Clint smirked.

Natasha swatted him in the head before walking towards the back door. She was laughing and a blush travelled up her cheeks.


	9. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint was just too curious. Plus we see part of what the stone can do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it for this week. More will be coming up in the following weeks!

It was 7am the next day. Kayla, Linda and Wanda were wide awake. They had showered and were just sitting on the couch.

“So how is Boston?” Kayla asked Wanda.

“Boston is fantastic!” Wanda replied with so much of enthusiasm, it amused Linda. “Your neighborhood is very quiet. It’s peaceful and I love it.”

“See, people love Boston,” Linda smirked. She nudged Kayla at her side. “And some people here _love_ Mr. Rogers.”

Wanda didn’t understand what she meant at first, but once she saw Kayla’s red face, she understood what was going on. She couldn’t help but grin.

Upstairs, Steve was waiting for Bucky to come out of the bathroom. When he heard his surname below, he wanted to know more about what the girls were talking about. He stood at the edge of the stairs to hear better.

“What the heck are you talking about?” Kayla’s voice was suddenly low. She was glaring at Linda.

“Come on girl, I have seen you look at him whenever he speaks!” Linda shrieked with excitement.

Wanda was looking at Kayla intently. After a while, she spoke, “you have feelings for him?”

Steve’s cheeks went rosy but he frowned. Well, he already had feelings for another man...

“See, Wanda senses it!” Linda laughed. Wanda was about to disagree but Kayla spoke up first.

“No.” Kayla sighed. “And what I have for him, it’s called admiration. I have Carl, remember?”

 _Wow,_ was the only thing Steve could think of. But what Steve didn’t know was that Tony was right behind him.

Tony was watching his behavior for a very long time. He was pretty amused.

“Oh spoilsport!” Linda scoffed.

Steve chuckled to himself.

“Buddy this is a bad habit.” Tony tapped on Steve’s shoulder, harder than he had intended to.

This sent the big, muscular man screaming in shock. He missed a footing and went rolling down the stairs. He stopped midway, just enough to get into the views of the 3 girls. The 3 of them jumped up from the couch. Natasha slammed open the master bedroom door. She had a pocket knife with her. Bruce ran out to see what happened. Clint woke up at the sound of the fall. He came out, looking sleepy. The water stopped running in the bathroom.

Tony was holding his stomach, guffawing. Steve looked at him, his face was very red.

“Are you ok?” Kayla asked him with concern. He nodded while managing a smile. He then turned to Tony.

“Are you out of your mind!” Steve yelled at him. “What do you think you’re doing?” He slowly got up.

“What do you think _you’re_ doing?” Tony shot that question back. He was still trying to calm himself down.

“I uh, uh, I was doing uh, something,” Steve stammered.

“Do you want me to tell you what that _something_ was?” Tony directed this question towards Kayla. Steve gasped slightly.  “He was ea-“

Before Tony could finish his sentence, Steve ran to him, shut his mouth and tackled him. They were both on the floor. At this time, Bucky came out of the bathroom.

“What the hell, Steve!” He exclaimed.

“Boys, it’s too early for a damn brawl!” Natasha shouted. She went back to the room to put away the pocket knife.

“You pals gave me one of the best wake up calls I had in years,” Clint mumbled.

Bruce shook his head and shut the door. Steve finally let go of Tony, who started to cough violently. Bucky and Clint helped both of them up. The 3 girls started to prepare for breakfast, dropping the topic of Steve entirely.

…

“Alright, Tony and Steve, both of you take the shovels and dig a deep hole,” Bruce instructed. Both took their items and went up to level one. “Wanda, we’ll look at your path again. You need to use your powers to carry the stone from here all the way up there. Follow me.” Wanda nodded her head. “And you three, stay here. Don’t touch the stone.”

Natasha, Bucky and Clint nodded. Bruce and Wanda left the basement. They were preparing to bury the stone. They were glad that this won’t be a problem they needed to constantly worry about anymore. After burying the stone, all that would be left to do was to wait for the arrival of Thor Odinson.

“This is Steve’s haven,” Natasha said.

“Yeah.” Bucky agreed.

Both were just a meter away from the lab. They were staring at the mini gym.

“Do you work out?” Bucky asked Natasha.

“When I was under S.H.I.E.L.D, I always got training, especially on hand-to-hand combat. After joining the Avengers, I jog a lot. I used the gym in the Tower a lot. Yeah I did.” Natasha was looking at the punching bag, a small smile appeared on her face. “Do you? Bucky?”

Bucky sighed. “Sometimes. If you call running around a city changing apartments a workout, then I do workout,” Bucky said. That made Natasha sigh.

Behind them, Clint was looking at the stone. He really had a temptation to touch it. He wanted to know what it felt like. The thick grey color was drawing his attention. He had seen the cracks too. But the urge was so strong. He stuck out his right hand, slowly, towards the stone. But he stopped.

“No…” he whispered to himself. “But what could possibly go wrong?”

He sighed. And this time, he went for it. He shut out his inner conflict.

“It’s fun punching the bag!” Bucky laughed.

“I don’t know about fun, really. It melts the stress away. It’s like you are punching your problems away.” Natasha made some hand maneuvers, which kind of impressed Bucky.

Clint’s hand was just a few inches away from the stone. He knew he shouldn’t do it. But what if he touched it and nothing happened? Or what if something happened?

He shut his eyes for a brief moment. Then opened it. His hand automatically grabbed the stone, ignoring the ongoing arguments he had with his conscience.

The first second of him touching the stone, Clint felt a sharp pain on his palm. But that pain subsided quickly. A wave of purple passed across the entire basement. The stone dropped onto the floor.

Wanda and Bruce returned back to the basement. They were pretty surprised that the 3 of them had left the place, especially when they were told to stay. They scanned the basement.

“Is that… are those their clothes?” Wanda pointed at a pile of clothes lying on the floor, a meter away from the lab.

The clothes looked like it was on top of something. And that _something_ was moving.

Bruce went towards the nearest pile. Mustering up enough courage, he managed to lift the clothes up.

“Is that a… baby Bucky?” Wanda asked, looking down. Both of them were astonished at what they were staring at.

They were staring at about a two-year-old baby boy, completely naked and drooling onto the floor. They also heard sounds coming from beside the baby and behind the lab table.  

“Oh my God…” both of them whispered in utter shock.


	10. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Clint, some of the Avengers are now toddlers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading so far. If you have any feedback, please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to read it! :)

“There has been a complication!” Wanda was panting when she reached the backyard.

Both Tony and Steve stopped digging. They looked at each other and then at Wanda.

“What complication?” Tony asked. A sweat bead rolled down his temple.

“The stone,” Wanda breathed. “Clint touched it. And…”

“Where is he?” Steve asked, panic filling his voice. “Where are they?”

Wanda looked pale. She was slowly regaining her composure. “They are fine. But… but they’re all babies.”

Tony dropped his shovel and ran into the house. Steve and Wanda did the same. The girls, along with Bruce, were bringing the 3 babies from the basement to the living room. Tony’s eyes widened with shock.

“What the hell,” Steve whispered to himself. He went towards Bucky.

“We wrapped them using some towels. We need to get them clothes, food and all the necessary things.” Kayla spoke, looking very flustered. Bruce nodded. “Linda and I have babysitting experience. We can handle them.”

“We found Clint near the lab table,” Bruce said. “I can’t even get mad at him. He looks that adorable.”

A chubby baby Clint looked up at Bruce. He gave a very subtle smile, followed by a giggle.

“Tell you what,” Tony started. He was still in shock. “I’ll bring the girls out for a quick shopping. Bruce, go online and order 3 small baby cots. We can use the guys’ room for the kids.”

All of them agreed. Bruce borrowed Linda’s laptop to order the baby cots. Steve agreed to take care of all three babies. Tony left with the girls.

“There is a supermarket just a few meters down.” Kayla was gasping for air while trying to catch up with Tony. They were all walking at a fast pace.

“What… what do we get for children?” Tony asked.

“Formula milk, some books, some toys, clothes, baby soap, powder, shampoo, baby food, towels, wipes and whatever we see as useful when we’re looking around,” Kayla listed down. Tony was just overwhelmed.

After going down the street and turning right, they entered the big supermarket. Tony instructed both the girls to get trolleys. He told them to grab all the useful items, without caring much about the cost. The girls were surprised, but it didn’t take them long to remember that they were speaking to the billionaire, Tony Stark.

Linda decided to settle the toys while Kayla decided to settle the necessary items. Both of them split up. Tony had gone down a few shops to look for some good baby books and clothes.

After about half an hour, they were paying for the things they bought using Tony’s credit card. They borrowed the trolleys to push their items back home. Tony promised to return back after they were done.

“I hope Thor comes soon,” he muttered under his breath while pushing one of the trolleys. Neither of the girls had anything to say. They silently reached home.

“I’m so glad you all are back,” Steve said. “Bucky did his business on me.” He stood up to show the wet patch on his shirt.

“I’ll do the diapers and clothes for all of them.” Kayla said while running up the stairs with the plastic bags.

“The cots will come in another 3 hours,” Bruce informed Tony.

“We can’t bring them back using the stone?” Tony asked. He still seemed dazed.

“No,” Bruce shook his head. “Thor knows how to bring them back. And I hope he comes soon.”

Steve was carrying both Clint and Bucky upstairs while Kayla carried baby Natasha. The babies were drooling and seemed bored.

Linda was settling the baby food items on the kitchen counter. She also placed the bottles and formula milk tins there. Bruce seemed very stressed out. Tony sensed this. So he placed his hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

“It’ll be alright.” Tony sighed. He then went back to return the trolleys.

…

It was late evening. The baby cots had arrived and were placed in the room. They were pretty small and were placed side by side. Kayla, Steve and Bruce were playing with the babies. They all were about two years old.

Steve was lying down on the floor with baby Bucky perched up near his abdomen. Bucky was holding onto a small elephant doll, which he was using to whack Steve’s chest. Steve could only smile at that. Bruce was hiding a baby bear doll behind him. He instructed baby Natasha to find for it, which she attempted. Once she found the doll, she started to giggle. This warmed Bruce’s heart. Kayla and Clint were playing with paint. They sat further away from the others so that the paint won’t splash on them. Clint seemed very focused while pressing his paint filled palm onto a paper, which made Kayla smile.

Tony, Linda and Wanda were seated at the dining table. They seemed exhausted.

“They’ll be sleeping soon,” Linda said. “Gosh my babysitting nightmares are here again.”

“It couldn’t have been that bad, right?” Tony turned to her. It took him some time to realize that all of their worst nightmares had come true.

“You’ve obviously never babysat,” Linda smiled. He had to agree on that.

Baby Clint then took his paint work and toddled towards Tony.

“Tonee,” he chirped.

“How can I help you?” Tony’s full attention was now on Clint.

Baby Clint stretched out his painting. Tony took it and was looking at it. It was just Clint’s palm print, purple in color.

“It’s nice!” Tony smiled. “Let it dry.” He stood up to place the painting under the ceiling fan for it to dry.

“Tonee.” Clint was looking at him expectantly. Tony didn’t know what he wanted. He didn’t have that much of an experience with toddlers. But once Clint stretched his arms out, Tony couldn’t help but grin.

“Right.” Tony scooped Clint up using one hand. He giggled while being lifted up quickly from the ground.

Tony set the paper on the coffee table. When he walked past Steve, he gave him a wink. Steve didn’t expect to see a blush crawl up Tony, but damn, it was the cutest thing Steve saw.

“Stowy, Tonee.” Clint ordered. He was trying to reach out for a book while being on Tony’s firm arms.

“Alright, jeez little one, give me a second.” Tony forgot about Clint being his teammate, gave him a kiss on his cheek. Clint gave out a giggle, which sounded like a scream. “Alright here we go!”

Bruce was laughing. He had never seen his fellow science bro this excited around kids before. Steve and Wanda were smiling at the softer side Tony was showing. Wanda only wished she hadn’t judged him badly before.

After one last feeding session, the babies were placed into their respective cots. Linda and Kayla had agreed to sleep in the room with the babies, which they did. Wanda took the master bedroom, while the rest of them took the living room.

“That stone needs to be buried soon,” Bruce said, calloused. The team was at the living room. “And tomorrow, successfully.”

The other three nodded solemnly.

“We will,” Wanda said before going to the master bedroom.


	11. Lonely

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little feeding session and Tony just, being Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your support! I'll be updating this regularly because my term break is here. Comments are welcomed here, so feel free to drop one! Happy reading!

Steve couldn’t sleep well. He kept tossing and turning on the spare bed. As if that was not enough, at 1am, the 3 babies woke each other up by crying. A zombie-like Kayla came down to prepare milk for them. Steve decided to help her. Tony woke up to the sound of the floorboard creaking. He joined Steve after a few minutes of disorientation.

Steve chose to feed Bucky while Tony went to baby Natasha. Kayla took care of Clint.

Tony was sitting down on the floor, near the window. Steve was seated opposite him. Bucky was relatively quiet during the feeding session, so was Clint. But Natasha was trying to wriggle her way out of Tony’s grip. She managed to slide onto the floor. Tony sighed before placing her back onto his lap. She giggled before Tony began to feed her.  

“That’s my good girl,” Tony was cooing at her. “It’s delicious isn’t it.” He wiped the side of Natasha’s mouth when drops of milk were running down.

Baby Natasha was trying to touch his face. Both her little arms were stretching toward him. Tony smiled. He went closer to her.

“You like my face, don’t you?” Tony asked her. “Yeah, it’s a very handsome and expensive face. It’s personal property which looks so good it- hey!”

Natasha’s left palm landed flat on his face, like a slap. Steve snorted.

“Now that’s not fair, young lady.” Tony teased her.

Natasha wanted to giggle. She made attempts, which made milk splatter around her cheeks. Tony took away the bottle, which was a mistake because she simply spat out more milk, all over Tony. She let out a loud scream-giggle and clapped her hands.

Tony adjusted her on his lap before wiping her face.

“Wow, you are a handful,” Tony sighed.

“Tonee!” she squealed before giving him a nice kick on his belly.

“Hey, ok ok what do you want, my little girl?” Tony was carrying Natasha now. She was desperately trying to do something, but Tony couldn’t figure out what.

He was already standing up. She was clawing up his chest, adjusting herself on Tony’s strong arms. She let out a small whine, before kicking Tony, again, on the hip. Tony sighed. He tried adjusting her in various positions, but she seemed uncomfortable. So he tried to put her down, but she screamed and nearly burst out crying, much to the chagrin of Tony. But he didn’t show it. He smiled before hoisting her up again.

Kayla and Steve were watching in silence, at the great Tony Stark handling a little baby delicately.

“Ok, what do you want, little princess.” He thought to himself aloud.

She adjusted herself; he gave her the freedom to do so. She stopped after a while.

“Tonee.” She yawned. And then lied down on his shoulders, her face pressed against his neck. She seemed content. Tony held her protectively. He turned to look outside the window. He slowly pat her back, so that she could let out a burp. Natasha did, after a few seconds.

He tried to put her back into the cot, but Natasha started to whimper. So he brought her back to his shoulder. He brushed her hair slowly, while she snuggled closer to his neck. He didn’t care if his hands started to feel numb or have the pins and needles sensation. He didn’t care if his legs started to hurt or if he started to feel sleepy. As long as little Natasha felt comfortable and safe in his arms, he didn’t let her go.

After 10 minutes, Tony placed her onto her cot, following Steve’s orders. Natasha slept well.

Tony went to take a quick shower before hitting the sack again.

After feeding, Steve came back down. He was fascinated by how Bruce slept through the whole ordeal. The last thing Steve heard before falling asleep was Tony landing onto the couch with a ‘thud’.

Steve woke back up at 5am after a nap that was neither light nor deep. He realized that he had completely lost his battle against sleep. So, he wanted to make himself coffee. He got up, only to realize that Tony was not on the couch. _It’s normal to go to the bathroom_ , Steve thought to himself while making coffee.

But after about 20 minutes, Tony still hadn’t come back to bed. So, Steve went up to check if Tony was alright. However, the bathroom lights were switched off, with the door slightly ajar. Steve’s heart was thumping against his rib cage. Perhaps Tony went to the lab or the mini gym and fell asleep there?

He ran down the stairs and entered the basement. The lights near the lab was switched on but there was no sign of Tony. Steve sighed. He wanted to wake Bruce up. So, he turned to go back up. But his eyes caught a very subtle movement behind the lab table.

“Tony, I’m sure the couch is more comfortable than the floor,” Steve said. He walked to the table. There was no one behind it. But there was a pile of clothes on the floor, and it had movements. Steve lifted the clothes off to find a little baby boy, completely naked and half asleep. There were dried tears at the side of his face, indicating that he had been crying for a long time and had just given up. “Tony is that you?”

The baby’s eyes stirred open. Deep brown eyes were staring back at him; definitely Tony. Baby Tony was about to cry again. That was when Steve heard the baby’s stomach growling.

“Oh young man, you’re hungry aren’t you.” Steve lifted him up. “We’ll get you milk.” Steve took Tony’s big shirt and wrapped it around the baby. He saw the stone, but decided to just leave it there. Baby Tony was too tired to cry. He rested his head on Steve’s firm shoulders. Steve started to feel the hints of loneliness, but brushed that feeling away.

‘How did this happen?’ Steve mumbled to himself.

Once up in the kitchen, Steve started to make Tony milk. Kayla had taught him how to do so. There was a spare bottle in the kitchen; she bought it just in case something went wrong. Steve was shaking the bottle and balancing Tony on one hand. Soon he began to feed. He could swear he saw a very brief smile on the baby’s face. The little boy was _that_ hungry.

“Bruce,” Steve called after feeding Tony. “Bruce wake up.”

He got up from the couch, rubbing his eyes. “Is that Bucky?” he asked Steve, who was patting the baby’s back.

Steve sighed. He looked very unhinged. “Bruce,” he began. “This is Tony. I found him in the lab just a few moments ago.”

Bruce didn’t say anything for a few seconds. He was just staring at the baby’s back, and then back at Steve. He didn’t know what to feel; scared, angry, surprised or aghast. “That’s him?” He managed to ask after a while. His mouth was so dry that uttering those words felt very uncomfortable.

Steve nodded. The baby let out a soft burp. Baby Tony was wide awake. He was fiddling with Steve’s shirt. Just then, Bruce’s phone rang. It was more of an alarm ringing.

“It’s a reminder.” Bruce switched off the alarm. He placed his phone away and cupped his hands on his face.

“For?” Steve asked.

“Tony’s birthday.”

Steve looked at Bruce for a brief moment before looking at Tony, who was on his lap. Tony was fiddling with his own hands. Steve’s face brightened up.

“It’s your birthday, young man!” He said with a voice filled with excitement. Tony looked up briefly, gave both of them a little giggle and went back to playing with his hands.

Bruce looked at Tony. He was very stressed. At this moment, he wanted nothing more than to bury the stone badly.

“We’ll bury it, Bruce,” Steve assured him, like he read Bruce’s mind.


	12. Happy Birthday Tony Stark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The remaining Avengers, who haven't de-aged yet, try to bury the stone. Plus it's Tony's birthday and they celebrate it. And Steve's face-to-face apology to Tony, like finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Christmas is in 2 days! I hope you all are doing well during this awesome season. Merry Christmas!!  
> Thank you for the kudos so far!  
> Happy reading :)

Wanda was ready to carry the stone using her powers. She told herself that she could do this, that she will be successful. Steve had encouraged her a lot. He gave her a pat on the back before she went to the basement.

Everyone now knows about Tony’s situation. They didn’t know what to say; words of encouragement or some sad statement, they were unsure. What Kayla was sure of, was that baby Tony needed his own set of clothes and they needed more formula milk. So she left the house at around 9am to get the necessary things. Bruce had already ordered another cot.

Steve was playing with baby Bucky and Tony. He was halfway tickling both their bellies when Bruce called him away. Now, Linda took over. She was just watching them, interfering only at times. Bucky usually became extra mischievous once Steve went out of his sight. He and Natasha were always throwing their toys around, and at each other. They whacked each other in the process, but it was light-hearted. If they got bored of that, they went to their coloring books. But even that usually ends up becoming a brawl. 

Clint was more of a play-alone child. But he welcomed anyone who wanted to join him. This cool morning, Tony had joined him. They were busy painting out clouds and skies on an empty piece of paper, kindly given by Kayla from her drawing block. Tony had a habit of standing back every minute, to take a look at their handiwork. If he was pleased, he would giggle. If he wasn’t, he amended the details himself. One detail Tony created was to add a smiley face to the sun they both painted out. Baby Clint loved it.

Clint also loves throwing rings onto cones. He only missed once, and that was when Bucky accidentally bumped into him when Natasha pushed him.

“Alright Wanda, whenever you’re ready.” Bruce sighed. He was walking up the basement stairs. Steve was in the process of digging a deep hole at the backyard.

Wanda slowly lifted the stone using her powers. She felt energy drawing out of the stone. It was threatening to go beyond the control of her powers. She felt it. She felt the strong urge to let go. She was panting. Bruce was watching her. He was just observing her, in surprise. Her hands were shaking. “I… I c… can’t,” she breathed. Her powers started to fade. She was trying and trying to keep it within her control. But every effort of hers was in vain.

And soon, she snapped. The redness around her hands completely disappeared. The stone was falling. And instinctively, Wanda reached out for it, forgetting about the repercussions. She could try again. She could try to focus more on getting the stone to stay within her powers and get it to the backyard.

“No!” Bruce shouted. He ran back down the stairs to push Wanda away from the stone.

Linda was now tickling baby Clint. The painting was long abandoned. He was cackling very loudly. Tony had joined Natasha and they both were throwing dolls at one another while giggling, while Bucky retreated to the sofa. Even amid all the loud baby noises, Linda heard Bruce’s shout. She didn’t know if she wanted to go down to check. Hence she called Steve. She told him what she had heard. Steve went down to check.

The stone was nearer to the stairs. And there were two babies seated near it. Steve gasped. He felt like he had seen enough, all his teammates de-aging and leaving him alone. He felt alone now; with the quinjet in stealth mode, thanks to Tony Stark, he couldn’t go back to the Tower to get help. He couldn’t send a signal to the Tower either, because according to Bruce, _the government might be tracking them_. This was something he had to deal with himself. At the moment, Steve was unsure of what to do.

He carried both the babies up. Linda saw that. Her laughter just vanished, like it got drained out of her face. Steve gave her the babies. He then collapsed onto the sofa, beside baby Bucky. Steve cupped his face using his hands. It was getting overwhelming for him. He sighed heavily. That was when Bucky’s little hands held him. Bucky was on his knees on the sofa, both his hands on Steve’s arms. Steve lowered his palms so that he can get a good view of Bucky. The little one now snuggled up near him.

“Stee,” Bucky cooed.

“Yes little guy, what can I do for you?” Steve carried him. He hugged him. He felt as if Bucky was consoling him, telling him that it would all turn out alright, just keep going. “I’ll keep going Buck.” He was looking at Bucky’s blue eyes. After a sigh, he kissed him on his forehead.

“Do any of them need a diaper change?” Kayla asked as she entered the house with several plastic bags. “Oh and how’s the stone?”

“The stone,” Steve started. He was standing now while carrying Bucky. Bucky’s little arms were draped around his neck. “Didn’t go so well.” Kayla didn’t understand. Not until Linda came down with Bruce and Wanda on each arm.

“Oh God,” she whispered.

“Kayla, can you bake?” Steve asked. She nodded, still in shock. “Can you bake a cake, any cake?”

…

It was 6 in the evening. The babies, all currently two-year-olds, had just showered. They could walk and stand. Their speech was not that comprehensible, although they can form little sentences. They mostly enjoyed playing with the two girls. Steve liked to watch them, sometimes he would join the games. Now, he was giving baby Bruce a piggy back down the stairs. Bruce was giggling loudly at the way Steve bounced him on his back.

More baby cots had arrived in the house. There were more baby clothes, food, toys and other necessary items. The girls didn’t mind spending some money for this.

“I’m done,” Kayla said from the kitchen. “Just the candle left.”

“We’ll light it up once Linda comes down.” Steve placed Bruce down with the others.

Tony was playing with his new toy car. Clint had joined him this time. They made the car sounds while crawling quickly to the “finish line”, which was the line at the end of the carpet. Bucky, Natasha and Wanda were playing with their rattles. Occasionally Natasha tried to push away Bucky’s toy. But Steve intervened and broke off their little brawl. Bruce loved his animal toys. He allowed all of them to play with the toys, which the kids did.

“I’m done!” Linda ran down the stairs. “I’ll light up. Call the clan in!”

Steve instructed the little ones to follow him. He was carrying baby Tony. The rest of them followed his instructions, and slowly toddled towards the dining table.

The girls were carrying a red velvet sponge cake to the table. Once placed down, Linda lit up a big number 2 candle. It was two since Tony got de-aged.

“Look at your cake, Tony!” Steve cooed. “Let’s sing him a birthday song.” Tony was grinning. He tried to reach for the cake, but Steve pulled him back. Always eager.

With that, the girls and Steve started to sing. The kids joined in, but they were just babbling and barely followed the tune, which was beyond adorable. Wanda and Clint were screaming it out, uttering the words like these:

“Appy”

“Bufay”

“Toe knee”

Bucky was jumping up and down. Linda was carrying Natasha while Kayla was carrying Bruce, who were clapping enthusiastically. The rest of them were standing on the chairs, under the supervision of the girls. Tony was giggling away. While singing, Steve wanted to know, suddenly, how the adult Tony would have reacted to this. He just really wanted his teammates back. He wanted all of them to be happy in the house. He yearned for a better reunion.

The song ended. Steve assisted Tony on blowing the candle. Steve blew it away, but he acted like Tony blew it and was grinning at him. “You’re so strong, young man,” Steve complimented the little boy he was carrying. Tony smiled while looking at the cake and then at Steve.

“Tonee, Steeb.” Bucky was attempting to climb onto the table. At this point, Tony had already cut the cake.

“What is it, little guy?” Steve asked him. Bucky pointed at the cake, and then at Tony. Steve didn’t understand. In fact, it took him a while before he did. “You want to feed Tony?” Steve was smiling. Bucky nodded his head.

Steve brought Bucky to the chair near the cake. Tony was on it too. He gave baby Bucky a small piece of cake. Bucky brought it close to Tony. He slowly fed him. Tony had a small piece too. He too fed Bucky. Bucky reached out across the table for more cake. But he could only use his right hand and that hand was busy going for the cake. So, Bucky lost his balance. Baby Tony saw this. He immediately grabbed Bucky, which caused him to lose balance too. He nearly fell backwards from the chair. But Steve was there, like a guardian angel; he was holding both of them, protecting them. Tony was hugging Bucky, and Steve was hugging both of them. His eyes were glossy. And so was Kayla’s.

Linda was filming this whole thing silently. Soon, she was filming Tony walking around the house like a big boss, his milk bottle on his left hand and cake on the other, which he fed to the other baby Avengers. Kayla had to wipe off cream from every baby's face. When Tony fed Steve, he tripped on a toy and nearly fell down. Steve was quick to hold him. But there was cream from his mouth to all the way down his shirt, near his abdomen. He chuckled at that. Tony looked slightly frightened.  

“It’s okay, young man.” Steve lightly pinched his soft, big cheeks. Tony cackled loudly at that.

…

It was about 5 in the morning. It was still dark. The babies were sleeping peacefully upstairs with Kayla. Linda had wanted to take the master bedroom. Steve sat up on the couch. He couldn’t sleep much. Something had been bothering him. And it had been waking him up from his peaceful slumber abruptly.

He found himself walking up to the room where the babies were. The room door was ajar. He heard water running in the bathroom. Knowing that Kayla was out of the room, he went in. All the babies were fast asleep. Steve walked towards Clint’s cot. It was near the window and was the first one.

Clint was sleeping with his thumb in his mouth. He always had this habit of sucking his thumb, but the adult Clint didn’t, obviously. Steve slowly pulled his thumb out. Clint didn’t wake up. Natasha was beside him. She was hugging her favorite baby bear doll. She had a very subtle smile. Steve pulled her blanket up to cover her more. Next to her was Bucky. Steve brushed his hair back, slowly. He looked really peaceful. He was clutching his blanket. Bucky stirred slightly, which made Steve withdraw his hand. But as soon as Bucky settled down, Steve resumed the motion, with a soft smile.

He walked to Tony’s cot. Tony’s back was facing up. Steve couldn’t help but smile at that. There were the Iron Man and Captain America plushies, which Bruce ordered online, tucked under his arm. Initially the Captain America plush was bought for Bucky. But Tony was so adamant that he wanted both of them. So he got both. Bucky got a baby bear doll instead, which he fell in love with, first sight. Wanda was sleeping beside him. She was drooling onto her pillow. Steve gently wiped the drool. Once he lifted his hand off, she turned. Bruce was at the end. He was hugging his bolster. He let out a soft whimper, which Steve heard. He patted Bruce on the head until he was sure that he was alright.

He walked back to Tony’s cot. After a long sigh, he started to speak to the baby’s little back.

“Tony, you’re a little baby now. I should have told you this a long time ago. But I put it on a letter. I feel like, I should tell you this.” He began. He was speaking very softly. There were tears in his eyes. “I’m really sorry for whatever that happened before this. I needed to tell you my apologies to you face-to-face. This is the closest. I really care for you and the team. I’m sorry for hurting you and leaving you alone that day. I’m sorry for not telling you about your parents. I know I made you angry and hurt you, and I deeply regret that. I’m glad, just glad the team is slowly coming back together.

“You’re a good guy, Tony. No one tells you that directly. Gosh Tony, why did you even apologize that day? It’s not your fault. It damn well wasn’t. I messed up and I understand why you reacted the way you did. I wish we can change back some things. You’re so brave, and here I am, talking to your back. You need to know something, Tony. You must know, that you have a heart.” The tears fell on Tony’s arms. Steve wiped them and recovered.  

He heard a shuffle behind him and turned. It was Kayla. Even in the darkness, he felt her stare; it was gentle. They were looking at each other for a long time. Just silence and acknowledging each other’s presence.

“So you were guilty,” Kayla broke the silence.

“Yeah.” Steve nodded. “Things happened. But it’s over and better now. I hope.” He made his way to the door.

“You know,” Kayla stopped him. “You don’t have to be tough. If you have feelings, it’s better for you to show them. Never suppress them.” She held his elbow.

Her firm grip made Steve comfortable. He relaxed. “You’re actually…” he was trying to find the right word. “Wise.”

“So I’ve been told.” Kayla smiled. “Come here.”

She pulled Steve into an embrace. He hugged her back, after two seconds of hesitation. Steve was so tall that Kayla had to tip-toe to be able to fully rest her head on his shoulders.

“You’re tall.” Her voice was muffled. Steve let out a laugh. It was genuine, relaxed and comfortable.

The held onto each other for a long time. Steve needed this. He needed someone to comfort him. Someone who would just hug and never let go. It had been a stressful couple of days. This embrace gave him the strength to move on and face this nightmare.

Steve pulled away because he realized Kayla had been on her toes for a very long time. She let go.

“I hope you didn’t mind,” Kayla said. “I felt like, you needed a hug.”

“Thanks.” He smiled at her. He really needed one, actually.

There was a little giggle from one of the cots. Steve immediately turned and saw baby Tony watching them. He was biting the cot’s frame and was drooling onto them. He was hugging his Captain America plush and his face had an adorable smile plastered across. Or more of a smirk with a tinge of jealousy. Steve blinked several times, thinking he was seeing things.

Kayla flushed.

“So you’re awake, young man!” Steve said softly. Tony looked like he wasn’t going to sleep back any time. “Let’s go down.”

He carried Tony. While passing by Kayla, Tony giggled at her. Steve’s face was hot. The adult Tony would have made a million jokes about the incident. She shut the door once they left.

While walking down the stairs, Steve pulled out his phone. He was contemplating, but was already typing a message.

He looked at his message one last time and hit the send button. After that, he stuffed his phone back into his pocket. Then he took out his Avengers ID card which Tony made for each of his teammates. He sent an alert to Thor.

“So, want to assemble that 8-piece jigsaw puzzle?” Steve asked excitedly after placing the card in his pocket. He turned on the hall lights. Tony turned to Steve. His little hands were on Steve’s face. They went across his cheeks and eyes, as if wiping away tears. After that, Tony hugged Steve.

“Stebeee.” Tony’s little voice by his ear was enough for him. Steve quietly hugged back, tears forming in his eyes again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcomed:) If you've got any feedback, please feel free to share it.


	13. Baby Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see short glimpses of what Rhodey and Sam were up to at the Tower while Steve and Linda attempt to bury the stone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the support so far guys. Sorry I posted this a day late because I was busy going to school for Radio DJ training and wrapping my best friend's birthday gift. I'm horrible at wrapping.  
> Happy New Year to you guys! Hopefully 2017 will be a way better year!  
> For now, happy reading!

“Right, slowly,” Sam said as he was helping Rhodey walk. “It’s helping.”

“Yeah,” Rhodey agreed. “I improved for sure.”

Sam smiled at that. They have been walking regularly, with the support of the leg equipment for Rhodey. The exoskeleton Tony provided Rhodey was helping him so much. He had crutches now.

When Rhodey saw Sam approach him after the quinjet left, he was surprised. He didn’t have any grudge against him. Sam dodged Vision’s power because, that’s what anyone would have done to defend themselves. Plus Vision was distracted.

Rhodey was in his room, reading a novel. Sam was reluctant at first, but he entered it.

“Hey.”

“Hey. Is Tony here?”

“They left to that place Bruce had asked them to go to.”

“Oh.” After a beat. “You didn’t follow them?”

A sigh. “No, I wanted to be here.”

Rhodey frowned. “But you’re usually with Cap… You… Wait, why are you here?”

“Rhodey… I wanted to visit you.”

“Wow, okay,” Rhodey said. He shut his book. “You’re not here out of guilt, are you?”

He gestured for Sam to sit on the chair beside his bed. “Well, that’s one way to put it.”

Rhodey narrowed his eyes.

“See,” Sam started. “I had a wingman. Name was Riley. We were out for a standard night mission. An RPG knocked him out. He fell straight down, and there was nothing I could do. It’s like, I was up there to simply watch him go down. So you could say, guilt was eating me.” He moved closer to Rhodey. “When I saw you fall, for a split second, I saw Riley.”

Rhodey didn’t know what to say. He was looking at his palm for a long time. He understood where Sam was coming from. After a sigh, he spoke. “I want to go down. Want to help me?”

Sam was more than willing to do so. He helped Rhodey up and guided him to the kitchen, where he wanted to get a cup of mixed fruit juice.

Now, both of them sat down on the couch after an hour of walking practice. Rhodey was drinking some orange juice. Sam was fiddling with his phone. He had received a message from Steve, telling him to come down to East Somerville somehow, as he needed him.

“They need you?” Rhodey nodded at the phone.

“Yeah,” Sam said. “Steve wants me there soon.”

Rhodey considered this. “Then you should get going. I have Vision. I can practice walking with him.”

Sam sighed. He was excited at the prospect of joining back Steve. But he also didn’t want to leave Rhodey at the Tower. They had a fun 5 days together, having their own movie marathons with Vision at times, practicing walking, getting scared when Vision randomly walked through walls and preparing food for themselves. There was the one afternoon they nearly set the kitchen on fire while attempting to cook seafood pasta. Vision panicked while F.R.I.D.A.Y turned on the sprinklers located on the ceiling of the kitchen. They decided not to tell Tony or any of the other Avengers about this. It took a long time to convince Vision not to.

Sam was contented. In fact, he was glad he had this friendship.

“Stop feeling guilty man!” Rhodey said sounding exasperated. “If Steve himself needs you in Boston, then you need to go.”

Sam looked at him. Then nodded his head. At that time, Vision entered the big room. He had a glass of water with him, which he offered to Sam. He took it, with a smile.

“You could take one of Mr. Stark’s cars,” Vision contributed. “I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“Or I can talk to Tony.” Rhodey shrugged.

“Right, so you both are more than willing to throw me out of the Tower,” Sam laughed.

But Rhodey frowned while Vision just stared at him.

“I was only joking you know,” Sam managed to stop laughing. “Right, so if I take one of his cars-“

“You can reach East Somerville within 4 hours,” Vision said smoothly. Sam raised his eyebrows, but nodded his head.

“Pack your stuff man, you’re gonna enjoy Boston.” Rhodey grinned.

Before walking out of the room, Sam gave Rhodey a fist bump. He patted Vision on the back, which made the android smile.

“I’ll leave after dinner though!” Sam shouted once he exited the room. Rhodey grinned at that.

…

“Slowly,” Linda said. Her voice was slightly shaky.

Steve was determined to bury the stone. It had caused enough trouble. At first, he didn’t know how to get it to the backyard. But Kayla gave an amazing idea. Since the stone only affects living things, she suggested to use a non-living object to transport the stone to the hole dug.

Hence, Steve was using a shovel to bring the stone to the back. Linda was accompanying him. She was encouraging him while he took baby steps to the back door. Kayla agreed to watch _all_ the kids.

“We’re doing it Steve!” Linda sighed. “Ok, now to the hole.”

Steve tipped the shovel, so the stone dropped into the little hole they dug for it. The stone dropped. Linda and Steve braced themselves for anything that could happen. But nothing changed. Both of them were still there. Steve let out a sigh of relief.

“We did it!” Linda squealed. In her excitement, she gave Steve a hug, more of a squeeze. Steve didn’t mind. He chuckled and hugged back, the tip of his ears turned red. “Oh my God!” Linda suddenly said.

“What?” Steve turned to her. His grip tightened around the shovel’s handle.

She turned to look at Steve, in disbelief. “We actually did it.” She whispered this. Linda didn’t realize that her eyes were welling up. Steve smiled softly at her. He pulled her for a tight hug.

They went back in after firmly patting the soil the stone was under. Linda helped place the shovels back while Steve went to sit under the fan, with the babies. His hands were shaking. He still couldn’t believe he had managed to bury the stone without a problem. It all seemed to surreal, too easy.

He looked at the babies. Kayla was helping Clint and Bucky finish up a painting of a big goldfish. Natasha and Bruce were silently coloring, tongue slightly sticking out of their mouths. They were pressed beside one another. But Wanda and Tony weren’t here. That’s odd.

“Kayla, where are Tony and Wanda?” Steve asked.

“They are playing with Chippy behind the couch,” Kayla replied. She was laughing when Bucky slammed his paint coated palm right into the middle of the fish. Clint joined him just seconds later, destroying their hardwork.

Steve remembered walking in from the back door. There were no kids and a dog.

“They’re not here,” he frowned. And then panic took over. “Where did they go?!”

Kayla turned towards him, her laughter dying. Natasha stopped coloring and turned to look at Steve. His tone changed the atmosphere in the house.

Steve exhaled sharply.

“I… I swear to God they were playing right behind the couch. I even heard them cackling!” Kayla stood up.

Steve looked at the half open front door. He went out, ran down the porch and onto the road. He looked at all the directions. It was empty. There was a lady walking with her young daughter down the street. That was all. Steve pushed back his hair in frustration.

He calmed down, because he had to, and started to think. Where would Tony, Wanda and Chippy go? If they went out, there was a high chance they were around the neighborhood because Chippy goes around here. Wanda would usually love to hang around at the back of the house.

But he came from there and they weren’t there. Tony… Gosh where does he love to go? He’s always at the living room with his toys. There was once he messed around with the small box of tools placed in the kitchen. They weren’t in the kitchen either. So… Wait a second. There were more tools at the attic!

Steve only hoped they were at the attic. He was more than willing to run around the neighborhood, looking for them.

He dashed back to the house. On his way up the stairs, he saw Kayla running up from the basement with Linda. Steve rushed up, his adrenaline pumping. He tripped on the stair on the way to the third level.

The attic door was wide open. And sprawled on the floor, were Tony, Wanda and Chippy. Steve heaved a huge sigh of relief. He walked in and sat down in front of them. He saw that Tony and Wanda were quietly doing a puzzle together. They were doing this while lying down beside one another. There were tools scattered around them too. But that looked like it was long abandoned.

She was putting together the piece on the right part of the board, while Tony took the left. They were slowly forming an image of the Avengers. Steve lied down, chest flat, and just watched them in silence. Chippy got up and walked towards him. He settled down right beside Steve’s warm torso and curled up into a sleeping position.

Steve felt relaxed. In fact he even dozed off after some time Kayla came up to check on them. He woke up to Tony’s and Wanda’s little voices calling him and a warm object getting into contact with his cheek. He woke up to find two proud kids showing him their hard work and a dog licking his cheek enthusiastically. Steve chuckled while getting up. He patted Chippy's head while taking the puzzle from Tony.

“Good job you two,” he praised them while kneeling in front of them, so that they were at each other’s eye level. He was looking at the complete puzzle in awe.

He gave both the kids a hug, Tony on his right and Wanda on his left, while Chippy looked up at him with his tongue sticking out, expectantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have anything to say, you can comment and I'd be more than willing to read and reply! :)


	14. Red With Rage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feeding Clint and Tony is quite a difficult thing. Plus they have a visitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the support so far! I hope you guys are feeling fine this week! The weekend is finally here. Happy reading!:)

“Steve, I’m trying so hard not to swear,” Linda lamented.

Steve snorted at that. “Try harder.” His reply earned him a glare from her.

It was evening and the adults were trying their best to feed the kids dinner. It was mashed potatoes with some steamed vegetables. Linda was trying to feed Clint, who kept running around the house, giggling. She was chasing him. She also had to feed Natasha, who was seated on the couch waiting for her turn to eat. Kayla was feeding both Wanda and Bruce simultaneously. They were more well-behaved. Steve was feeding Bucky and Tony. Both were cooperating with Steve because he promised to bring them on a night walk around the estate.

Baby Clint wasn’t looking at where he was running. He was going around the couch and getting away from Linda. So he was shocked when he found himself falling face first.

“Clint!” Linda practically screamed when the baby boy tripped and fell on the entire collection of Bruce’s animal toys. His giggling stopped.

He turned to look at baby Bruce, who was on the couch. Bruce was staring at him, eyes wide. He looked like he was about to kick Clint very hard. But his gaze softened slightly when he saw Clint’s eyes filled with tears.

Clint picked up a little giraffe, which was Bruce’s favorite. He slowly toddled towards Bruce. The entire house was silent. Steve, Kayla and Linda were staring at Clint and Bruce. Baby Clint offered Bruce his toy.

“S… sowwy Buce,” Clint managed. His voice was shaky, lips trembling and tears falling.

Bruce stared him. After a while, he took the toy. He gave Clint an endearing grin. Clint grinned back. Linda seized this opportunity to finally feed him. She let out a satisfied sigh, which made Steve snicker.

Tony was pretty hard to feed too. He had accidentally kicked Steve twice while jumping around. Steve asked him to stay put using a firm voice and Bucky pulled Tony down. He landed butt-first on the floor.

“Hurss.” He pouted at Steve.

“No sowwy,” Bucky stuck his tongue out. Tony looked up Steve. His big brown eyes made Steve go all mushy inside.

“Bucky,” he started. “If you don’t say sorry, I will not bring you to the night walk.”

Bucky gasped. He immediately turned to Tony. He brought the little boy’s cheek closer to him and kissed him. Steve raised his eyebrows, but was laughing. 

Soon, dinner time was over. The kids returned to play with one another. By now, Bucky and Natasha have become close to one another. Instead of fighting one another, they share toys. They sat together and babbled something. Steve was so happy with this. Clint, Wanda and Bruce played together. They are always filled with giggles. But Tony always played alone. He liked to read science stuff. And assembling puzzles were his absolute favorite. Sometimes he joined the others, but mostly, he was alone, unless Steve joined him.

This evening, Steve was taking both Bucky and Tony for a small walk. They had their jackets on.

“We’ll be back by 9. And try not to burn the house down.” Steve smirked. Kayla was laughing while Linda gave a light-hearted scowl.

“Alright you two, are you ready?” Steve asked with excitement oozing out of him.

Bucky was jumping up and down while Tony grinned. Steve scooped both of them up. He nodded at the girls and was out of the door. Kayla was smiling at that.

…

After being out with the boys for nearly 2 hours, Steve was walking back home with them. Tony was very tired. His head was on Steve’s shoulders, arm loosely hanging under Steve’s neck and his eyes were half closed.

They had fun together. But Steve always had to pull Bucky towards him. Just one second of looking away or not holding his hand could end up in Steve chasing baby Bucky down the street.

While Tony loved the night sky and cool wind. He kept looking up while walking, his right hand was safely enveloped by Steve's big left hand.

"Stee, can I be star?" little Tony pointed at the sky and asked. They stopped for a minute near the empty field before turning to go home. Steve was carrying him. He was holding Bucky by placing his arm across his little chest. Bucky was standing near Steve's legs. He was hugging them while kicking the grass.

Steve looked up. He then looked back at Tony, whose eyes were lit up with excitement. Steve smiled softly. "You already are one, Tony." Steve whispered. Tony looked at him. He was grinning and Steve could see that the little boy was very tired already. "Alright, let's go back." He carried Bucky and walked back home.

Bucky on the other hand was still enthusiastic.

“Dow!” Bucky squealed. He wanted to get down and walk back home, not wanting to be carried by Steve. “Dow Stee!”

“Right, wait little guy!” Steve sounded tired but couldn’t help laughing at his stubbornness. Once they neared the house, he put Bucky down. Steve was holding his hand while walking back. “You hang in there, Tony. We’ll get you to bed soon, ok?” Steve smiled at him.

“Okay.” A very soft reply came from the little boy.

When they turned to enter the house, Steve realized that the front door was open. It was very odd because the girls would never leave their front door wide open even during the day. He started to brisk walk, dragging Bucky slightly. Once he heard the babies crying, he ran up the porch step. Bucky tripped on the stair, but Steve carried Bucky with one hand. Once inside the house, Steve’s eyes widened at what was happening.

A weird looking tall man, wearing just short bottoms, with red eyes and weird patterns on the skin, was strangling Kayla’s neck with his right hand and strangling Wanda using his left. Wanda was held very high up, but she was right above the sofa. Kayla’s face was red and she was gasping for air. Baby Wanda was screaming, tears streaming down her face.

Near the television set, Linda was carrying Bruce and hugging Natasha and Clint. She was crying too, and the babies were all sobbing.

Steve felt like he had seen enough. His teammates were strong, yes. They didn’t cry in front of him even if the worst happened. But they were now at their most vulnerable state, and Steve felt that it was his duty to protect them, his good friends. Rage ran through his nerves the more he heard Wanda cry. He was even more furious looking at Kayla struggling to breathe. Anger was literally blinding his eyes; they were red with rage.

“Put. Them. Down.” Steve said with gritted teeth. His muscles were tense. Bucky winced as Steve’s grip on his hand tightened.

Tony woke up when he heard Steve’s voice. He had never heard it this tight and furious before. He slowly got up. Even in his disoriented state, he saw the rage flashing on Steve’s face. And little Tony was scared. He gulped when he looked into Steve's blue eyes, now sparkling in anger.

The man turned to Steve. It didn’t take long for him to recognize this being. He had seen this description on S.H.I.E.L.D files before. This was one of the Frost Giants.

“Then,” the Frost Giant started, “I want the stone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What should Steve do?  
> If you've got feedback, drop a comment below.:)


	15. First Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The visitor is asking to be punched by Captain America. And a new character arrives!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the support everyone! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Happy reading!

Steve was confused. He was not sure how the Frost Giant came to the right location. But after the Frost Giant asked for the stone, realization dawned upon him. Once the stone was used, whether to open a portal or to de-age, it would be activated. Anybody who was holding on to the second half of the stone, could detect the energy released from the other stone easily, in fact, they could feel it.

So, the leader of the Frost Giants, who has the stone now had sent one of his people to negotiate for the second half of the stone, in a manner that Steve detests.

“Let them go and you will get your stone,” Steve managed to say after he calmed himself down. “Let them go.”

Kayla was still fighting, but had slowed down. Baby Wanda was now whimpering in pain. She was kicking the air, trying to kick her assailant.

The Frost Giant grinned. “I will.”

With that, he dropped baby Wanda. She landed on the couch, chest flat. A very scared Linda immediately scurried to get that baby girl. She hugged her and tried to calm her. She checked for any injuries. There was nothing, but Linda made sure Wanda was breathing properly. And she was.

The other babies snuggled closer to Linda. She protectively tried to hold onto all of them. Kayla’s fate on the other hand, was worst. The Frost Giant pushed her to the back. She had no control of her movement. Her head was spinning and by the time her vision returned to normal, she blacked out.

The Frost Giant had pushed Kayla with such a force, that she landed near the stairs, her face hitting one of the balusters hard. She collapsed, with a nose bleed.

“Kayla!” Linda breathed.

Steve was just staring at her. He was staring at the girl who had most importantly given him support when he needed it the most. Steve’s fists were clenched. He let go of Bucky and Tony. Bucky toddled toward Linda, while Tony just stood there, transfixed by Steve’s fury.

With anger blinding him, he went straight to the Frost Giant and socked him in his jaw. The assailant wasn’t expecting this. His grin vanished.

“Gentlemen,” a smooth male voice came from the front door. “Please, at ease.”

Everyone in the house were staring at a man, with a long red cloak and a beard that resembled somewhat of the adult Tony Stark’s.

“Doctor Strange?” Steve said. But before he could say another word, the Frost Giant had grabbed him by his neck. He sneered before punching Steve on his stomach.

“No…” Doctor Strange muttered.

“Let-tim go!” a little voice shouted at the Frost Giant. It was baby Clint. He was scowling at the big figure, strangling the super soldier. He gave the Frost Giant’s right shin a kick. “You don hurr our Steeb!”

“Clint, come back here!” Linda said, panic filling her. She had no idea when Clint slipped past her and went there.

“You dare!” the Frost Giant shouted. He pushed Steve to where Kayla was and Steve had to make sure he didn’t land on the girl. She was watching the entire incident. She felt weak but was slowly getting up. She really wanted to pull Clint to her.

In fact, she was trying when the Frost Giant raised his hand to give that little boy a slap.

“Cleen no!” Tony screamed. He toddle-ran and pulled Clint. But he was not ready to dodge the incoming slap.

The slap landed on Tony’s right cheek very hard. The sound echoed in the now seemingly silent house. Baby Tony fell down, and he was struggling to open his eyes. The pain was so immense, that he couldn’t even cry out loud, but tears were flowing out of his eyes. Clint crawled towards Tony. Doctor Strange was staring at Tony, in shock.

“Tonee?” Clint’s sob came out. “You ugly!” Clint screamed at the Frost Giant.

The Doctor went to examine Tony. He crouched down to reach him. “Tony, open your eyes. Come on little one.” He gently removed the hand that was covering the cheek. He carried him and brought him to a standing position. He gave the little boy a few pats on the back. Tony inhaled sharply and his exhale was a loud cry.

The Doctor was ruffling Tony’s hair to make him stop crying. He checked the cheek, which was very red. There was no blood and there was nothing serious. Clint was holding Tony. Just then, Doctor Strange’s red cloak lifted up by itself. It swung around and gave the Frost Giant a strong blow, making Doctor Strange levitate for a few seconds. It knocked the wind out of the Giant as he flew and fell near the basement door.

Everyone were impressed with what they saw. The Doctor was looking down at the fallen Giant, feeling pleased.

Before the Doctor could adjust the Cloak, it enveloped itself around Clint and Tony. The Doctor sighed as he was dragged back down and nearly fell. Whatever superhero moment he had, was long gone.

Clint had wrapped his arms around a sobbing Tony. “Whas tis?” Clint’s small voice asked. He felt comfortable though, to be wrapped around and to be surrounded by the warmth of the Cloak. Even Tony was beginning to relax. He was touching the Cloak to feel the material, intrigued.

“That will be my Cloak of Levitation,” the Doctor answered. He was smiling at Clint. “Alright now, I have a job to do. Please let go of the two boys as they are fine.”

The Cloak did listen. But it only unwrapped itself after gently caressing Tony’s red cheek and ruffling Clint’s hair. Baby Tony giggled in the midst of tears falling.

At this time, baby Natasha ran towards the Giant, who had gotten up already. Linda couldn’t stop her on time. She gave him a little kick on his side. The Frost Giant simply pushed her down.

Near the television set, Wanda was clinging onto Linda. Bucky’s eyes watered as he had seen Tony squirming in pain on the floor and Bruce was trying to get out of Linda’s grip to hit the Frost Giant, who had just hit his best friend, hard. There was a little green forming on his skin, but Linda was patting his back. That relaxed him, just a bit.

Kayla now had enough strength to get up. She crawled, in pain, and picked up little Natasha, who was crying as she had hit her head lightly on the dining table when she fell. She then moved towards Clint and Tony. She pulled them closer to her. She was holding onto all the 3 babies. The Doctor saw that Tony was in better hands, so he got up, already feeling frustrated because of the Frost Giant’s actions.

Steve jumped up. He didn’t know where the sudden burst of energy came from. But he knew one thing for sure; no one hits _Tony_ or any of his best friends in front of his face! He kicked the Frost Giant’s back and grabbed him. He punched his stomach and then his face. The force of the blows only made the Frost Giant stagger.

“Captain, please violence is not going to be the best answer,” Doctor Strange said. Steve withdrew. His hands were shaking as he tried to control his movements. He then let go.

“We can talk.” Doctor Strange now said firmly, directed at the Frost Giant. “I know where the stone is, and I can lead you there.”

“You will,” the Frost Giant ordered and did not seem to care about the Cloak, which had knocked him. “Now. My master requires it.”

“Then follow me.” Doctor Strange turned to go to the door.

“Where? The stone is here!” The Frost Giant raised his voice.

Doctor Strange sighed. He rolled his eyes. “The stone was here. It was transported elsewhere. And I know it. Now follow me out. I will bring you to it.” He said patiently.

The Frost Giant contemplated for a moment. He turned to look at the babies and realized that he might as well follow this strange man’s instructions as he seemed to know what he was saying.

So both of them went outside. They went to the middle of the road. There were no cars driving by and no people walking past them. Steve was watching them from the front porch.

“It is in here,” Doctor Strange said. He moved his hand in a circular motion. There were sparks and then a portal opened.

The Frost Giant seemed entranced by it. He stepped into it without a word. Doctor Strange then closed the portal. The fiery sparks disappeared. Steve was staring at that in disbelief.

The Doctor went up the porch.

“I have trapped him in another dimension. Not to worry for now. Thor will be here in 2 days,” Doctor Strange assured Steve.

“How do you know that?” Steve asked. The Doctor gave him a smile and walked in. Steve followed suit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really love the Cloak!!   
> If you've got any feedback you can drop it at the comments below :)


	16. How Much Time Can We Buy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doctor Strange leaves and Sam arrives at Boston, much to Steve's relieve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I hope you guys are having a good day. Thank you for the support so far! You guys are awesome! For now, happy reading!:)

Doctor Strange adjusted baby Tony on his lap. He checked his injury. Tony’s right cheek was bright red, but it was getting better. He had stopped crying  and was toying with the Cloak of Levitation. The Cloak was willingly playing with him, which made Tony squeal with joy. Clint was standing right beside Tony, looking out for him. He was pouting the entire time.

Once the Doctor released Tony from his lap, he and Clint toddled to where Clint’s toy telephone was.

Linda was checking Wanda by continuously patting her back. She was messing with Bruce’s animal toys, which Bruce didn’t seem to mind. He had joined her. Whatever shock Wanda was in, was long gone. Bucky had joined them too, after a while. They were throwing the toys around one another, making weird noises and laughing at the noises they were making.

Steve was checking on Natasha. He was rubbing Natasha’s forehead while kneeling in front of her. She had hit the table very lightly when the Frost Giant pushed her down.

“Natasha,” Steve started while continuously rubbing her forehead. “If you’re ever in pain, don’t be afraid to say it to someone.”

She pouted at him. “Okay Steeb.” Her little arms clung onto Steve’s neck. He returned the hug back. He patted her back slowly and Natasha’s head was resting on Steve’s shoulders. After a while when she started to cough, he let go of her to rub her back. He then kissed her on her forehead, on the injury, and carried her. He left her with the others near the television set. She went to get her coloring book instead of joining them to play.

Kayla had managed to stop her nosebleed. She spent at least 7 minutes in the washroom. She finally walked down to place an ice pack on her head, where she had hit the baluster hard. She looked like she was still in shock. She said nothing when she walked past Steve to go back up to the washroom.

“Tony is alright,” Doctor Strange said when Steve sat beside him. “He needs sleep. In fact, all of them do.” Steve nodded. The babies were tired by now.

“Will they come here, again?” Steve asked. He was massaging his temples.

“Not any time soon if I do what I came here to do,” Doctor Strange smiled. A very tired looking Steve turned to look at him. A small frown settled on him. “I came here to take the stone to where I am currently residing.”

“New York?” Steve blurted. “Then they’ll go there.”

“They will go wherever the stone is. I am only buying you time.” The Doctor now stood up. “Show me.”

Steve was about to disagree. But he knew he couldn’t. The girls and the babies had to be safe here. They have to wait for Thor to come back with the cure. The stone being here only posed further danger for the occupants of the house. The Frost Giants could come any time and it’s all too risky. Doctor Strange was right; Steve needed his help and he had come at the right time.

He showed the Doctor to the back door. A heavy breeze settled in the neighborhood. Doctor Strange’s cloak was flailing wildly, while Steve dug out the stone. Linda had brought the shovel for him. He dug out carefully, to not accidentally crack the stone using force.  

Once the stone came into view, the Doctor opened a portal. Steve could see a few wooden cupboards. There were things in it, like special ornaments and some of them were stored inside other glass cabinets. It was New York, the place where Doctor Strange currently resided. Steve suddenly wanted to go back to New York, to the Tower or the compound, where he felt at home. But he knew he couldn’t. And that made him feel very dejected. He sighed. The little children inside the house gave him some hope; they made him happy. He wanted to go on for them, for his good friends.

Doctor Strange then used his powers to lift the stone. He did it without any difficulties.

“I’ll hide this in another dimension. Not at the one the Frost Giant is trapped in,” he assured Steve. “I will see you and your team.” After giving a reassuring smile, Doctor Strange walked into the portal. It closed after some time, leaving Steve alone in the backyard.

“Steve,” Linda’s voice came out. “There is some man here. He said you called him?”

Steve dropped the shovel and ran past Linda. He knew who it was. And he was more than glad that he could make it to Boston on such short notice.

“Sam!” Steve nearly screamed in relief. He gave a surprised Sam Wilson a tight hug. “I’m so glad you came here.”

“Steve!” Sam was grinning. “I am so happy to see you. Man, you look so… tired.”

Steve let out a sigh. Kayla was standing with Linda near the kitchen.

“Kayla and Linda, this is Sam Wilson. Sam, these are Kayla and Linda, who have kindly provided us a safe house.” Steve introduced them to one another.

“Falcon…” Linda whispered in awe.

“That’s right!” Sam winked at her. They exchanged handshakes. “Steve, where are the others? And wow, look at these babies!” Sam walked to where the babies were playing. Baby Clint willingly toddled into Sam’s open arms.

Linda pulled Sam’s luggage in and shut the door.

Steve cleared his throat. “Sam, you are looking at the Avengers.”

“That’s cool!” Sam grinned as he lifted baby Clint up. “Wait what?”

Steve nodded. “You’re actually carrying baby Clint.”

“You mean Hawkeye?” Sam raised an eyebrow. “The stone, did this?” Steve nodded again. Sam couldn’t believe it. But he decided to join the children once Clint started to babble to him.

…

It was 11pm. The kids were fast asleep. Sam had taken the master bedroom while Linda slept with the kids. Kayla and Steve were seated on the couch below. Both were drinking hot chocolate under the dimmed hall lights.

After a few minutes, Steve started to talk. “Kayla, are you alright?”

She nodded. After gulping down her drink, she turned to Steve. “So this is your life?” she asked softly. “Danger everywhere you go.”

“Yeah, that’s why we’re called the Avengers.” Steve shrugged. “Danger is pretty common to us. And we usually avert it. Hey are you…”

He stopped once he saw the tears in Kayla’s eyes. He placed his mug on the coffee table and came to sit beside her.

“Hey,” Steve said softly. “It’s alright.”

“Sorry,” Kayla let out a sob. “I was shaken because he was so scary.”

“Kayla it’s alright.” Steve placed an arm around her shoulders.

“No, I need to tell you how brave you and your friends are,” Kayla was smiling. “I couldn’t face this. But you guys are really brave.”

Steve nodded. He was smiling at her, as a gesture to offer her some encouragement. “You were brave too. Don’t deny it. You were doing your best to protect the little ones. I mean, if the Frost Giant was holding you, it means you must have jumped in first to protect them.”

“Thanks Steve,” Kayla chuckled. “Linda tried her best too, you know.”

“She did,” he agreed. “Give me the mug, I’ll wash them.”

Steve went to the kitchen while Kayla prepared to sleep on one of the spare beds.

He quietly washed the mugs and placed them onto the counter. He went back to the other spare bed and plopped down.

He couldn’t stop thinking about the day, about how it went. About Tony asking him if he could be a star, the look on his face, the Frost Giant strangling Wanda and Steve fighting him. He shuddered when he realized how ill-prepared they all were. At the end, when Steve turned to his right side to fall asleep, he noticed how his hands were trembling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've got any feedback, drop it at the comments below!:)


	17. The Last Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam loves playing with the kids and Steve might not really be anticipating Thor's arrival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> The weekend is finally here!  
> It's Chinese New Year here in Singapore, so if I have any Chinese readers, Happy New Year to you!  
> Thank you for your support, guys.  
> For now, happy reading!

Sam loved playing with the babies. He didn’t even realize an entire day passing by while being with them; he was really fond of them. He seemed to have forgotten that they were his fellow Avengers. An hour ago, he was playing with Clint and Tony. Both of them have developed a special bond after Tony pulled Clint away from the Frost Giant’s malicious blow. They used Clint’s toy telephone to act like they were talking.

“Hello?” Sam asked. He was using his hand as his phone.

“Hewwo!” Tony giggled. He was using Clint’s toy phone.

“How are you?” Sam grinned.

“Bye!” Tony was laughing and Clint joined him.

“Oh come on!” Sam laughed along. “I just wanted to talk to you, Tony!”

Now, he was playing with Bruce, Bucky, Natasha and Wanda, near the couch. He used their dolls to create a story to entertain them. For instance, he placed Bruce’s little giraffe and deer dolls together. He brought a giant bird doll, which was Clint’s, and made movements of it flying around Bruce’s little animals. He told the kids that the animals were in danger. Bruce looked like he was about to cry.

Then, he brought Wanda’s and Natasha’s little girl dolls and named them both Claire and Carol respectively. They were the owners of the two animals. They tried to shoo the big bird away, but it wouldn’t leave.

Bucky, Natasha, Wanda and Bruce gasped.

“Go away big boo!” Bucky stuck his tongue out at the bird doll. Sam chuckled at that.

Sam then brought the bird down and made swooping movements. So it looked like the giant bird wanted to attack the giraffe and the deer.

“No!” Wanda shrieked. Bruce went to console her.

And then Sam brought in the Captain America and Iron Man plushies Tony owned. The plushies chased the big bird away. Sam made various sounds. He made Carol and Claire squeal in joy. They thanked the plushies for their help and went to their animals.

The kids clapped their hands as Sam stood up to bow in front of them. He looked proud of himself. Steve was laughing at this.

“Oh Sam,” Steve was grinning. “You know what to do if your superhero career falters.”

“Jokes huh.” Sam scooped baby Wanda into his arms. He flung her around, which made her scream excitedly, and placed her down.

“Come on, we got to give them lunch,” Steve stood up.

“No!” Bruce and Bucky said in unison. “Stowy again!” Wanda piped up this time.

“No, I am hungy!” Natasha declared.

The kids started to walk toward Sam. Sam raised his hands in surrender and walked backwards. Steve snorted at this.

At this time, Tony and Clint went beside Sam. “Stee!” Tony called.

“Yes young man?” Steve turned to him.

“Stee, Tonee solve puzzle by ‘imself!” Clint announced excitedly.

“Let me see,” Steve requested eagerly.

Sam was still going backwards. He didn’t know there was a toy behind him. He stepped on a little train and yelped. His hands swung ferociously as he tried to find balance. His hand was dangerously close to Tony and Clint. But instead of hitting either one of them, he hit the puzzle Tony was proudly handing Steve. The board flew and landed on the couch while the image of Mickey Mouse and Friends broke apart. The 36 pieces landed separately. Sam finally lost his battle with physics and came crashing down, hard. He landed on a box full of dolls and toys. The plastic box shattered under his weight and toys exploded everywhere. 

Linda ran down the stairs while Kayla ran out of the open kitchen. Steve was staring at Sam, wide-eyed. The other kids froze in front of Sam, even when their toys flew out.

“Sam are you ok?” Steve asked his wingman.

“Oh Tonee,” Clint sounded disappointed. Steve and Sam turned to look at Tony.

The little boy’s lips were shaking. Tears fell out of his big brown eyes. He was looking at the floor, at the pieces of jigsaw puzzle. Steve crouched down. He lifted Tony’s chin up and smiled at him. He used his thumb to wipe away his tears. Tony was staring at him, with a pout.

But after a few seconds, his lips curved into a smile. He was mirroring Steve’s expression and when Steve realized this, his heart melted. Steve wasn’t aware of the tears that formed in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Tony,” Sam apologized. He was embarrassed and sad.

“Is okay!” Tony said. Clint and Tony begin to pick up the pieces from the puzzle.

“Tony, assemble them again. I want to see them.” Steve ruffled Tony’s soft brown hair. Tony nodded.

Sam managed to get up. His back was hurting terribly. Linda found another plastic box and they immediately begun clean up. Kayla ushered the other kids to the kitchen.

…

Tony was assembling another piece of puzzle. He was an expert in this and loved it. He was seated on the couch, sandwiched between Bucky and Clint, who were watching him assemble the puzzle intently. He was all focused on putting the pieces together.

It’s 6 in the evening. The sky was a beautiful orange with patches of pink appearing here and there.

Wanda and Bruce were busy playing with Chippy in the backyard. Kayla and Linda were with them.

Steve was giving Natasha a piggy back down the stairs. They were singing “ABCD” together.

Sam was still feeling guilty. So he went to join Tony.

“Bucky, do you think you could move your leg so I could sit here while watching Tony play?” Sam requested, nicely.

Without looking up, baby Bucky answered, “No.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Some things don’t change. Bastard.” He mumbled to himself.

“Languish!” All 3 kids spat this out in unison. They were staring at Sam.

Steve snorted as he plopped down on the other couch, with Natasha nicely placed on his lap. “Yeah they’re all heavily under my influence.”

Sam sat down on the floor instead, in front of the three kids. “So, how are you?”

Steve looked at him. “I am fine, Sam.”

“Come on,” Sam said softly. “Something is bothering you. I can feel it.”

Steve couldn’t help but smile. Of course his wingman knew him. “It’s just that, when they all turned into toddlers a few days ago, it seemed surreal. I felt so lonely and helpess. Thank God the girls were here. They were a big help. And then a Frost Giant came-“

“What?” Sam interrupted.

“Yeah Sam. I haven’t told you. But one of them came looking for the stone. All of them were hostages. Doctor Strange came and locked him in another dimension and took the stone with him. And then thank God, you came. He also said Thor was coming in 2 days, which is tomorrow. I just feel, odd.” Steve confessed. He was giving his forehead a massage.

“Wait, you are feeling odd?” Sam asked. “For Thor coming tomorrow?”

“Sam,” Steve started. His eyes were slightly red from controlling his tears. “Once Thor comes, the kids will return to their normal age.”

Realization hit Sam like a runaway train. “You are going to miss the kids.”

Steve nodded. He was looking outside the window which was a few meters in front of him. He was looking at the orange sky, which had a bit of navy blue hue mixed with it. His gaze seemed, faraway.

Sam sighed. He wished he had joined this “Avengers as kids” phase earlier. It all seemed fun but he was also aware of the amount of hardwork Steve and the two girls had put in. It wasn’t easy to take care of 6 toddlers at the same time. They proved to be an active bunch.

“Steve,” Sam placed his hand on Steve’s knee. “It will be alright.”

“I will miss them Sam,” Steve’s voice was shaky. “I really will.”

“Steeb,” baby Natasha turned to him. “Ish okee.” She gave his cheek a peck. He gave her forehead a kiss in return.

“Well, who knew Steve Rogers is a parent material,” Sam grinned mischeviously.

“Oh Sam,” Steve waved him off.

“But seriously,” Sam said. He decided to change the topic. “Does he know? Have you told him about your feelings?”

Steve knew who Sam was talking about within seconds even though the topic change was too fast. “No. With the accords and the fight, I didn’t have the chance. I mean I had opportunities before, but I kinda let them pass. I’m planning to tell him after this whole ordeal is over.”

Sam considered this. “I’m surprised he doesn’t know yet. I mean, he’s a smart guy!”

“Do you think he knows?” Steve thought aloud,

“Stee!” Tony’s voice signaled the end to the conversation Sam and Steve were having. “Ere! But a piece is missin!”

He handed the puzzle over to Steve. Steve took it. It was an Avengers jigsaw puzzle which had over 40 pieces. The missing part was the piece with Iron Man’s arc reactor, near Tony’s heart. Steve might not know where the piece of puzzle went to, but he definitely knew where Tony’s heart was.

That night, Steve insisted he should sleep in the room with the babies. Sam and Kayla slept downstairs while Linda took the master bedroom.

He carried each one of them and gave a kiss on their foreheads. He had something to say to each of them before putting them on the cot.

“Clint, I hope you know how great of a friend you are.” He gave him a kiss and placed him on the cot.

“Natasha, I am always here for you if you ever need someone to talk to.”

“Bucky, thank you for encouraging me. Even as a toddler, you kept me going, pal.”

“Wanda, you are a very strong lady and you deserve to know it. You deserve what is the best.”

“Bruce, you are such a loving soul. I hope you will be happy with Natasha. And always remember to smile, always.”

And lastly…

“Tony, thank you for existing. You are smart for a toddler. I hope you realize that many people around you care about you. Tony, you give me life. I don’t think I’ll be brave enough to tell you this but, I really love you. I’m sorry for everything that happened before this. I hope you will forgive me. Let’s start a fresh chapter. And remember always, partner, you’re a good man.”

He made sure all the kids slept well on his shoulders before he placed them onto the cot.

He was holding baby Tony. Tony was already sleeping on his shoulder but Steve kept on patting his little back. His head was tilted and was touching Tony’s head slightly. He stood at the window and couldn’t help but reflect. He stared at the navy blue sky with stars scattered around them.

It was such a fun with the kids. He was so stressed out at first because he just didn’t know what to do. With danger looming and all his teammates turned into toddlers, he thought he was going to be all alone. But the girls, saviours really, were there. They provided him with such great support and help. All they were supposed to do was provide a safehouse for the Avengers for only a few days. Not take care of little kids who were wild and active and spend tons of money on clothes, toys, food and other necessary items for them. He knew he should have called Sam earlier. He also knew he should have sent the Avengers Assemble signal to Thor earlier, when Clint had first touched the stone. It was a mistake to delay; to send the signal on the same day he sent Sam the text message, urging him to come to Boston.

Mistakes were made. Decisions were taken based on what Steve felt was best given the circumstances. He couldn’t go back in time of course. But he could look forward to the future. He could sense trouble coming. A possible war with creatures from another realm. But he knew that he was ready. Deep inside his heart, he was ready to face them. He had to keep going. Tomorrow the Avengers will be back. And when they unite, they would take down the foes no single heroes could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers are returning back, how do you feel about it?  
> Feedback is appreciated, you can always comment and I'll reply!:)


	18. Welcome Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor and the Avengers return back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. I hope February is alright so far!  
> Thank you everyone for your support!  
> **Also, the Puddle of Truth in this story is entirely fictional. I came up with that at 12 in the morning when I was writing this.**  
> For now, happy reading:)

Thor returned that early morning. With the help of Heimdall, he got to know his friends’ location. He was also aware of their situation. He made a stopover in Iceland, at the Puddle of Truth in a forest. That Puddle was only available to those who truly needed it when they were in that forest. Hence, it was difficult to make it appear.

Thor stood under the tall trees for a while. As a leaf dropped on him, the Puddle revealed itself. He collected the liquid and stored it in a little glass bottle, which was made in Asgard.

The sun was rising in Boston as Thor knocked on the door. After a while, the door opened.

Kayla was staring at a muscular man who was dressed up like he was going for a Viking themed cosplay. She was still not fully awake from her sleep. She kept blinking at him.

“Are the Avengers here?” Thor asked slowly. He gave her a little smile.

Kayla frowned at him. She saw the hammer he was holding and everything clicked into place. “You are Thor?” she asked.

“Indeed, I am Thor, son of Odin.” Thor replied with pride. Kayla broke into a grin. She moved to the side so that Thor could enter.

“Oh Kay Kay what is it?” Sam asked. He was rubbing his eyes.

“Thor is here.” She shut the door.

Sam was on full alert. He stood up to look at the God of Thunder, who was grinning at him.

“Sam Wilson, how do you do?” Thor asked. He settled on the couch.

“I am fine big guy. The others are upstairs. Still asleep I guess.” Sam walked to the kitchen to make himself coffee. “Hey Kayla, get Steve please.”

She walked up the stairs. She let out a long yawn before opening the door to the kids’ room. She was not prepared to look at the scene in front of her.

Steve was lying down on the spare bed. Baby Tony was sleeping on his chest. Baby Natasha was hugging Steve’s belly, she was on his right. Baby Wanda was on his left and she too had a hand on Steve’s belly. Baby Clint was sleeping on Steve’s thighs, his thumb was in his mouth. Baby Bruce’s head was on Steve’s left shoulder. And baby Bucky’s head was on his right shoulder. They were all asleep and looked so peaceful.

Kayla didn’t have the heart to wake Steve up. So she just stood in front of him for a while, and snapped some photos using her phone. Sam and Thor quietly joined her as she was taking too long to get Steve. They too couldn’t help but admire the babies sleeping around Steve. From this, it was evident on how much he loved his teammates. Sam took some pictures too while Thor sat down. He smiled a sad smile. He was very glad when Heimdall told him the team had united. They were all able to put aside their differences, apologize and come together. Thor always had faith in his fellow comrades.

The sun rays shone through the window. It hit Steve’s face. He stirred at the sudden brightness. He also felt like people were staring at him. So he opened his eyes slowly. He realized he couldn’t adjust himself because he was surrounded by babies. He froze in position when he saw an Asgardian armor nearer to him and two slimmer figures standing.

“Thor is here,” Sam announced. He knew Steve was still sad. So he said it softly.

“Yes, I am.” a reply came.

Steve relaxed for a while. Baby Tony adjusted himself on his chest. He whimpered slightly, but fell back asleep.

“Hey,” Steve said softly. “Help me put them back on the cots. Thanks.”

Kayla immediately sprang into action. She started by lifting Tony first. Sam took Clint. Thor placed his hammer on the floor and took Bruce. He couldn’t stop grinning at the little ones. Slowly, they shifted all the babies back to the cots. Steve got up and sighed.

“They all woke up at around 4. So I brought them to my bed and was telling them a bed time story. They fell asleep around me.” Steve chuckled at the memory. But his eyes looked sad.

“I have brought the cure, Captain,” Thor announced. He pointed at a glass bottle settled carefully on one of the pouches in his armor. “After they are fully awake, all we have to do is sprinkle this on them. Make sure the water lands on their hair and skin. Give them a minute to recover and the Avengers would have assembled.”

“Alright Thor. I’m glad you came,” Steve managed. He got up and was walking to the bathroom.

“Steve,” Sam tapped his shoulder. “Will you be alright?”

Steve was looking at Sam. He smiled. “Of course. We just have to look forward to the future, Sam. Let the past be in the past. Let the present keep going.” He gave a surprised looking Sam a pat on his shoulder and walked off.

…

An hour later, the babies and the others were in the living room. Thor was talking to baby Wanda. He settled her on his lap.

“So Wanda, if I lift Mjolnir, I am…?” He wanted her to end the sentence.

“Wothy!” She grinned at him.

“Ha, you are right! Worthy!” Thor said excitedly. Sam was laughing at this.

Thor placed his hammer on the floor. He was fully focused on talking to Wanda and listeing to her reply, that he did not notice baby Bruce standing next to his hammer. He touched the handle. The little sparkly feeling which he felt while touching the handle, made him giggle. Sam sat down on the other couch and was watching Bruce intently.

Bruce’s little fingers held the handle and without any effort, he lifted the hammer. He didn’t fall back or even stumble. He was swinging it around. Sam’s eyes widened. He motioned at Thor to look at the surprising scene unfolding in front of their eyes. Thor turned and gaped at what he saw.

“Wothy!” Wanda pointed at Bruce.

“Yes indeed,” Sam whispered.

Just then, Steve walked to where Sam was seated. He saw what Bruce was holding and was just staring at him in shock. He raised his eyebrows.

“Wow Bruce,” Steve let out a soft laugh.

“Steeb!” Bruce cackled. He decided to let go of the hammer. The hammer landed on the ground with a thud, which made Steve cringe. Bruce ran to Steve. He lifted the little boy up and bounced him on his lap. “Of course little Bruce is worthy.”

“So what now?” Sam asked after a while. He was clasping his arms together.

“We bring them back.” Thor stood up. “We start with the ladies first.”

“Their clothes are ready and are at the master bedroom.” Kayla said.

Everyone could feel the atmosphere in the living room. It was pretty serious, mixed with a little sadness. Everyone were going to miss the little kids. But serious things were coming their way and they needed the Avengers.

Kayla and Linda took Wanda and Natasha respectively. They all went up. Sam and Steve were with the rest of the babies.

Wanda and Natasha were in the master bedroom. Thor sprinkled some of the water on the babies. He instructed Linda and Kayla to turn away while he walked out of the room. Within seconds, the girls heard some shuffling and a few loud gasps behind them.

“Uh, your clothes are on the bed,” Linda said and dragged Kayla out of the room without a backward glance.

Once Steve saw Thor and the girls coming down from the stairs, his heart sank. But he knew he had no choice.

“The boys are next, Captain.” Thor declared. His loud voice bounced around the house.

There were footsteps sounds coming from upstairs. Soon, Wanda and Natasha came down.

“What the hell happened? Why were we naked?” Natasha asked. She looked pretty surprised.

“Yes, and how did I end up upstairs? I was at the base… We have babies in the house now?” Wanda asked. She couldn’t help but smile at them.

“Let me introduce you to Bruce, Clint, Tony and Bucky,” Sam spoke. Wanda gasped while Natasha raised her eyebrows.

“Wawa!” baby Bruce walked towards Wanda with his little giraffe doll. She carried him and placed him on her hips.

“Look at my little boy!” Wanda cooed. Bruce started to giggle.

“How did this happen?” Natasha sighed. She picked up baby Clint. He was hugging his big bird doll. He gave Natasha a little grin.

“The stone,” Steve sighed.

“Tasha!” baby Tony exclaimed. Steve pulled him towards him. He settled Tony on one thigh while Bucky attempted to climb on the other.

“You seem to remember me!” Natasha laughed while gently pinching Tony on his cheek. Tony flinched at that. “Oh my, did that hurt? What happened to you, angel moy?”

“Nat,” Steve started. “While you all got de-aged, the stone was activated. So the leader of the Frost Giants sent one of his kind to negotiate with us…” Steve went on to tell her the entire story. Her eyes widened at the recollection. She got angry because her teammates, her good friends were attacked at their most vulnerable state. Her hand automatically went to baby Tony’s cheek. She rubbed it softly and then ruffled his hair. Baby Tony leaned into her touch, which made her smile.

Wanda settled beside Natasha. She too got angry upon hearing how her teammates were attacked and on how she was strangled. She was ruffling Bruce’s hair.

“I am sorry to interrupt but we must bring back the rest of them,” Thor said. He smiled at them.

“Alright. We’ll bring the kids up. Their clothes?” Steve asked as he stood up. He was carrying both Bucky and Tony. Wanda and Natasha stood up with Bruce and Clint respectively.

“It’s already up there, at the master bedroom.” Kayla answered them.

Thor sprinkled more water on the baby boys. Wanda, Natasha and Thor left the room, leaving only Steve, his back facing the babies. The babies’ giggles were soon replaced by coughing, followed by a very manly scream coming both from Clint and Tony.

“Your clothes are on the bed. Dress up and come down,” Steve said. He then left the room, laughing to himself.

“What in the!” Bruce’s voice was heard.

“Good God!” Bucky’s voice was heard too.

After a while, Tony was coming down the stairs, fast. “Can anyone explain to us why we were naked?”

“The stone, genius,” Natasha quipped.

“Oh,” Tony realized.

“So my worst fears came true huh,” Bruce said. He was standing behind Tony.

“It wasn’t so bad,” Linda laughed.

“But I don’t remember touching the stone. So how did I de-age?” Bucky asked.

“You were near the stone when it was activated,” Bruce answered him. “Clint, you started this.”

“I know,” a guilty looking Clint agreed. “I remember doing that out of curiosity. But I didn’t know Nat and Bucky would change.”

“It’s alright Hawkeye,” Steve assured him. He gave Clint a pat on the shoulder. “But Tony, do you remember why you went to touch the stone?”

Tony’s face reddened with embarrassment. “It was early morning. I went down to just examine it. I was still pretty half asleep so without thinking,I went to touch it.” He shrugged. Steve pursed his lips while Bruce exhaled loudly.

“Good God, I’m actually hungry.” Everyone in the house could hear Clint’s stomach growling furiously. Bruce nodded at that too. “Do we have a proper meal? Gosh I need to eat something whole, especially now that I know all I had was milk and baby food.”

Steve snorted.

“Thank you, Thor,” Bruce said. Thor clapped him on the back, which nearly sent him flying across the living room.

“I’m sorry I could not come earlier. I was helping with the cleaning of Asgard after a ruthless battle with the Frost Giants. They will be coming to earth, I can sense it,” Thor growled. “Oh the stone, where is it?”

“Doctor Strange came and took it,” Steve answered.

“Great! So the stone now went to New York?” Bruce asked incredulously.

“Mr. Magic came here?” Tony asked.

“Oh Tony,” Steve raised his eyebrows. “But, he said he’d keep it in another dimension. So he bought us time. So Bruce, it’s not exactly in New York.”

Bruce was only slightly relieved.

“But they will be coming soon,” Wanda spoke. “Will we be prepared?”

Steve turned to look at all his teammates. They were looking at him with confidence. Of course they were going to have to be prepared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will the Avengers be prepared enough?  
> Let me know your thoughts on the comments below! :)


	19. Avengers Assemble!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team wants a bit of a relaxed night before they go back to New York but looks like the Frost Giants are going to ruin it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> Thank you for reading this story so far! I mean, it's 19 chapters over a span of a few weeks. Also, thank you for your support so far! It always keeps me going.  
> *Nothing too gory in this chapter, but just a mention of blood.*  
> For now, happy reading!

It was 10pm. The team was sitting around the couch, trying to figure out which TV channel to watch. Well, that was half of the team, who were Natasha, Clint, Steve and Sam. The other half, Tony, Bruce, Wanda and Bucky wanted movies. Tony and Wanda were browsing through the girls’ CD collection to pick a movie. They all wanted a relaxed night before they fly back to New York to face the possible threat from the Frost Giants.

Bruce was trying to lift Thor’s hammer, again. He saw the photo Linda had secretly taken and was speechless. He had tried lifting Thor’s hammer before but it didn’t even budge. But his younger, two-year-old self could lift it. He grunted while trying to pull the hammer up now. Thor was chuckling at his attempts. He was seated near the window, patting Chippy, who was half asleep.

“It’s alright Bruce,” Tony said after Bruce’s 8th try. He was seated on the floor. “You’re worthy and you know it.”

“Did you just replace the word ‘sexy’ from that song lyric?” Clint asked. He raised an eyebrow at Tony.

“Of course I did,” Tony grinned.

Bucky was in the kitchen eating Chinese takeout with Linda and Kayla. Steve on the other hand, was worried as they had no strategy planned out. But he was more than glad the team was able to make it back. He sat back on the couch and was watching them bickering over TV channels and movies.

“Steve,” Natasha called. She was sitting beside him. “You’re worried, aren’t you?”

Steve sighed. “We don’t have a proper strategy in place, Nat. We need to be prepared.”

“Come on Steve, it’s not like they’re gonna barge in here!” Tony said.

“The last time, they did.” Steve deadpanned. “I don’t want to be caught off-guard again.”

“Alright we make this fair then,” Bruce spoke up. He joined Tony to pick a film. “We plan a strategy and then we watch a movie.”

“TV channel!” Clint shouted.

“Whatever,” Tony huffed.

“Thor, what can you tell us about the Frost Giants?” Steve asked.

All eyes turned towards him. “They have tried to take over the world by opening the Casket of Ancient Winters. But that did not go well. They tried to steal the Casket, many many years later, during my coronation ceremony. But that failed too. Now, they came to Asgard to steal the special stones that can make the wielder powerful. They were half successful. Now, their new leader waged a war against us. He will not be afraid to attack your world to get the other half of the stone back. They are ruthless.”

Bruce scoffed. He saw that first-hand.

“They’re definitely coming,” Steve sighed. “Alright, they’re taller than normal humans. We need as many people as possible to fight them. We can’t let the leader get hold of the second stone. We need to try to take the first stone from him.”

“He definitely protected the first stone,” Wanda spoke up. “We need to get past his defenses.”

“Wanda is right,” Thor nodded. “He has that stone stored in a pendant. He wears it around his neck.” Steve raised an eyebrow upon hearing that information.

“I can break open the pendant,” Tony offered nonchalantly. “But I won’t touch the stone.”

“How do we destroy both the stones?” Clint asked.

“I have an idea,” Thor said. “I can bring the stones to the Puddle of Truth at Iceland and soak them. The All-father has told me about this. It will soften the stones, thus weakening them. I can use Mjolnir to annihilate it entirely.”

"Anything else, Thor?" Steve asked. 

"Yes, one more thing. Do no let them touch you," Thor warned. He sounded very serious when he said that. "Their frostbite is _very_ painful."

The team sat there quietly, taking in the information. 

After a while, Kayla took her phone which was ringing, and went to the second level. Linda was clearing up the table and Bucky joined the others in the living room.

“Alright, for now, this should be fine,” Steve sighed. He still felt uncertain. But he left it at that.

“Tony, be a good boy and pass me the TV remote,” Clint cajoled.

“No,” he replied, without even looking up from the movie collection.

Clint ran and tackled Tony. Bruce caught the remote while Wanda took the movie collection. Sam’s eyebrows shot up. Bucky tried to stop them. But it was impossible with just one hand.

Natasha shook her head. Steve was just watching them. He realized they didn’t really change that much. They had mini brawls like this when they were two. He sighed and shook his head. Linda was laughing from the kitchen.

“Can you three stop?” Natasha asked. She tried prying Clint off. Tony was coughing and Bucky was patting his back.

When Natasha pulled Clint away, they both fell back near Steve’s legs. Steve was giving them a skeptical look now.

“We choose Kick-Ass!” Wanda declared.

“Well people here chose Grey’s Anatomy!” Sam argued back.

“You wouldn’t like it when Bruce gets mad,” Natasha smirked at him. “But hey, I choose Grey’s Anatomy too!”

“No way!” Tony panted. His face was red from all the coughing. “We’re going with that Ass Kick movie they picked!” Steve snorted at that.

Thor was laughing while shaking his head. Chippy was fast asleep beside him. The noise didn’t bother him.

Just then, Kayla came running down the stairs.

“Are you serious?” she asked while being on the phone. She sounded panicky.

Steve’s full attention was on her. His enhanced hearing helped him listen to her while the others were still arguing.

“Can I have the remote, please?” Kayla asked. She looked very worried.

Bruce passed it to her without a comment. Everyone else were looking at her. She switched on the television and straight away turned on a News channel. She gasped. So did the others.

In the TV, there was an aerial view of 177A Bleecker Street in New York, having two fully opened portals on either ends of the street. Armies of Frost Giants were walking in. People were being evacuated. They were running around wildly while screaming. Spiderman, Doctor Strange, Vision and the Defenders were already there, trying to fight the Frost Giants.

“Please tell me you’re alright there, Diana,” Kayla sounded like she was about to cry. There was a loud scream on the other end of the line, which everyone in the house heard. Kayla flinched. She threw her phone down, accidentally clicking the loudspeaker button and stumbled backwards. Steve caught her before she fell.

The team was watching in shock, at the people running around in a frenzy. Police vehicles were stopping by in a disorganized manner. The officers obviously didn’t know what to do. They were looking around; some escorting people while others looking at the portals in awe. Bruce was trying not to Hulk out in the house.

“I’m… I’m okay Kayla! A police escorted me. We are being brought down to the underground walkway nearby,” the entire team heard Diana’s voice.

“ _It seems that an army has come, again, to New York via two portals, opened at the sides of the streets. We are only looking at the Defenders, Doctor Strange, Spiderman and the Vision. The whereabouts of the other Avengers are still unknown. It is a question to be answered, on whether or not will the Avengers reunite again, especially after the disagreement they had over the Sokovia Accords. This is Megan Mc_ -“ the reporter was finishing up when the camera swung sideways. The cameraman cried out in pain.

“ _Marty!! Oh my God, they even have weapons. There is ice on you! I’ll help you…_ ” the reporter and the cameraman were on the sidewalks.

They had fallen down when one of the Frost Giants had hit them with a weapon. The weapon had emitted ice onto the cameraman, which had pierced his back. It was melting; blood and water was running down. All these could be seen as the camera was recording their every move. The reporter was helping him up in a haste. Another policeman was also helping them.

The channel had stopped that live broadcast and had switched back to the studios, where a perplexed looking man was seated. He let out a nervous laugh before moving on to talk about what social media was saying about the whole ordeal.

“Avengers,” Steve called. He was still holding Kayla. “We need to Assemble!”

“I agree,” Thor said. His grip on Mjolnir tightened.

“We’ll get your stuff,” Linda spoke in a small voice. Kayla wiped her tears and picked up her phone. She ran up with Linda, ready to pack all of their items. Wanda, Sam and Bruce went up while Tony jogged down to the lab.

“What was I looking at?” Natasha thought aloud. “They have weapons, two portals opened near buildings. It’s like they want a war with us.”

“I think they do,” Steve sighed. He was staring at the news anchor sharing Twitter posts about the ordeal.

…

After ten minutes of ensuring they got everything, the team was running towards the empty field. The two girls, Sam and Clint were pulling their luggage and running at the same time. No one was out at that hour. Chippy was trotting behind them.

“Where are we running to?” Linda panted.

“To our ride,” Tony replied. He took out the device which looked like a small remote control and pressed one of the buttons.

The quinjet, which was in stealth mode for a long time, finally came into view. “Welcome back, boss.” F.R.I.D.A.Y said.

“What the…” Kayla thought out aloud.

“Nice to hear you, F.R.I.D.A.Y,” Clint smiled.

Tony pressed another button. This time, the back entrance fully opened up.     

“We’ll take it from here,” Natasha said. She took the luggage from Linda, and Wanda took the luggage from Kayla. Before Natasha walked to the jet, she felt like saying something to the girls. “Thank you both of you, for your help. I’m sure Tony will do something for you guys so that you can call the Avengers any time you need help with anything. Thank you, again.”

The two girls smiled and said, “you’re welcome,” in unison. Clint thanked them for their help. He pulled them both for a tight hug. “I will make sure you guys get a full tour of Avengers Tower.” Kayla chuckled at that.

“I’m sure you can sell all the toys and lab equipment,” Tony smiled. He walked towards the girls and gave them both a hug. “Any of you girls need a job, just call me. I left my number in the lab. Thank you so much, you two. Take care.” Tony left them to switch on the controls and engines.

“Thank you, Kayla and Linda,” Steve smiled. “You girls were a great help these past few days. I really appreciate that. We will always keep in contact. Come to New York someday.” The girls nodded at that. Steve gave them both a pat on the shoulders before walking away to the quinjet.

“Thank you. I know it was awkward and difficult for you two to suddenly have me and the others to come over. But you two were great help and I hope we will meet again. Do come to New York,” Bruce smiled.

“Pleasure is ours, Bruce,” Kayla smiled.

“Keep in touch, Brucey-Brucey,” Linda winked at him.

Bruce leaned in closer to whisper to the girls. “I’m sure Tony is already planning on having you guys over.” The girls were grinning at that. Bruce nodded his head before jogging to the quinjet.

“Do remember to send the videos and photos of us as kids,” Wanda said excitedly.

“We will.” Kayla nodded her head. “See you guys in the funny papers!”

The others laughed and then waved at them. By now, Chippy was standing beside the two girls. Bucky was patting him; he had no heart to leave Chippy behind. The dog jumped onto him, clawing on his thighs and trying to lick his hand.

“Oh Chippy,” Bucky sighed sadly. He ruffled his fur one last time before walking away to the quinjet.

Thor nodded at the girls and kissed Chippy’s head. He walked to the quinjet, briskly.

“Let’s take a step back,” Sam said. The three of them along with Chippy moved to the road.

The engines came to live as the back entrance slowly closed up. Within seconds, the jet lifted off the field. They watched from below, as the jet soared high into the night skies.

Sam jogged to the _Audi R8 V10 plus_ he drove from New York. He placed his suit on the seat beside the driver’s seat.

“I’ll see you two and Chippy soon,” Sam smiled. He gave the dog a little pat on his head. “Thank you, Lindy and Kay-Kay. Take care for now. I need to speed this back to Manhattan!”

“Have a safe journey back to New York,” Kayla said.

“Drive safely,” Linda smiled.

Sam pulled the car door shut. He sighed as he placed the key in the ignition. It was going to be a long night ahead of him. He made a U-turn at the end of the street before speeding by the girls again. Linda and Kayla watched him go in silence while Chippy barked at the car till it disappeared after making a left turn.

...

The journey back to New York via the quinjet would only take less than 5 minutes as Tony was flying it in high speed. Steve was trying to come up with a battle plan. He knew they needed to split the team into two so that they could fight at either ends of the street. It was such a weird looking portal, opened on the ground and the Frost Giants entering from the side.

Clint was changing into his gear at the side of the jet. Everyone’s back was facing him. Natasha and Wanda were already dressed up. Bruce was preparing to Hulk out once the jet drops them off at the street. Bucky was thinking he was going to sit this one out. What can he do with just one arm? He closed his eyes for a moment.

“The portals are opened near Doctor Strange’s residence,” Natasha said. “The Defenders, Spidey, Vision and Doctor Strange are trying their best to stall them. But they need manpower quick. Are Panther and Ant Man coming for this?”

“I already informed them when I was starting the jet,” Tony spoke up. He was looking straight ahead, this time thinking about what he was going to do in the battlefield. “They said they were already on their way.”

“We need to work with the Defenders,” Steve said. “Split up with them and slow the Frost Giants down from both portals.”

“I’ll drop all those who are ready first. I need to get my suit, which is in the Tower, and so do you, Steve. Bucky and Steve, I need you both to follow me to my lab.” Tony spoke quickly. Bucky’s eyes flew open upon hearing his name. He threw Tony a strange look while Steve frowned.

“I’m ready. So glad the quinjet still has many of my arrows,” Clint said. He was already holding his bow and was inserting his arrows into his quiver.

Natasha was checking her stingers, and guns for bullets. Wanda was taking in deep breaths.

“Sam will join us in a while,” Tony informed them. “He decided to drive my car back to the Tower.”

The others nodded. They could already see the New York City lights from the cockpit windows. Tony had started to put the jet on descent mode and slowed it down. They were flying over the streets within seconds.

“I will be opening the doors in 3… 2… 1…” Tony said. He clicked a button and the back entrance slowly started to open.

The jet flew over one of the portals. There was a slight turbulence. Clint and Wanda held onto the sides of the jet as they lost their balance. Natasha and Bruce held onto Thor, who was holding Mjolnir very tightly. Steve held onto the pilot seat’s headrest. Tony gritted his teeth while maneuvering the bird and Bucky was focused on the battle ensuing outside.

But all those shakes didn’t stop Tony from descending further.

“They’re finally here!” Jessica Jones shouted to Luke Cage over the roar of the jet engines. She was fighting near the portal opened at 186 Bleecker Street.

Her hair was flying wildly because of the jet. “For God’s sake, push that bastard back!” Luke gave one of the Frost Giants a punch, which sent him flying back.

"I only can do so much, Jess." Luke was panting.

“Alright Avengers, time to melt some Frost Giants!” Tony said enthusiastically.

Natasha pushed Bruce out of the jet without any warning. Bucky’s eyes widened at that. She, followed by Thor, Wanda and Clint, jumped out of the jet. Tony immediately pressed the “close” button to shut the entrance. As the entrance was closing, the others in the jet heard the distinctive roar from the Hulk.

Tony pulled up the jet. He sped it towards the Tower.

“Why do you need us in your lab, Tony?” Steve asked. He was looking at Tony’s side profile. 

“I may have something for the both of you,” Tony said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What does Tony have for both Steve and Bucky?  
> Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! :)


	20. The Battle - Part 1- The Argument

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team is fighting the Frost Giants plus we get to know what Tony has for Bucky and Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, how's your day?  
> I hope you're having a good one. Thank you for all your support so far!  
> For now, happy reading! :)

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, I am landing this bird at the Tower. Ensure it gets proper maintenance,” Tony said.

The jet made a good landing. Tony quickly shut off all the controls and left the back door open. The three men exited the jet. They walked straight in.

Bucky was marveling at what he was looking at. He loved the view from the glass windows located high above them. Steve on the other hand, got reminded of the good memories the team spent there before the rift. He looked down while walking towards the elevator.

Tony pressed for level 76. The silence was getting pretty awkward in the elevator ride down. They were more than glad when the doors opened. They walked out and went straight down the hallway. They stopped outside the big glass doors, which was Tony’s public lab, which he gave _some_ Avengers access to. Tony keyed in his codes and the lab doors opened with a “hiss”.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y light it up,” Tony said. He walked in while the lights flickered on. Steve and Bucky were looking up, at the ceiling. “Where did I place Project 310?”

“Welcome back, boss,” F.R.I.D.A.Y started off, her tone sounded happy. “Project 310 is on the desk table to your left.” After a pause, “Boss, Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes are here.”

It might have sounded like a question or it might not have been one. F.R.I.D.A.Y cleverly didn’t make it clear. Steve felt his cheeks getting hot while Bucky kept staring at the ceiling.

“Yeah, I brought them in,” Tony spoke up while looking for that project of his. “Ah, there you go. Bucky, come here.”

Bucky snapped out of whatever trance he was in. He walked to where Tony was standing. “What is it?”

“I uh, I made you an arm,” Tony said. He was smiling sheepishly.

Bucky thought he heard him wrongly. He was about to ask what Tony made when he saw the “project”.

It was a metal arm, which looked shiny and brand new.

“I used Adamantium. Pretty strong,” Tony said. “I’ll fit it for you.”

Steve was just staring at the arm and so was Bucky. Tony took the arm and was already fitting it for him. He held his shoulders gently, while making sure the arm goes into place properly.

Bucky looked at Steve. He couldn’t believe this was the same man who was trying to kill him out of blind rage in Siberia just three and a half months ago. Steve gave him a smile. He was looking at Tony, who was so focused on his task.

“How do you know the measurements?” Steve finally asked, after a minute of silence.

“I don’t,” Tony replied. “The arm can adjust itself to fit whatever measurements Bucky’s shoulder area is.”

That was the coolest thing both the soldiers heard.

“The movements are based on how you want it to move. Like programmed by your mind. You can try it,” Tony smiled. He moved back to look at the work he created.

Bucky tried to raise his arm and wave. He did. He wiggled his fingers and even swung his arm around. He was laughing at the movements. Steve was chuckling at the child-like excitement Bucky was displaying.

“There are a few S.H.I.E.L.D sniper rifles available just a few floors down. You can take the Frosties out from above a building. Ask F.R.I.D.A.Y, she’ll assist you, Bucky,” Tony said. He too couldn’t help but smile at what Bucky was doing.

He stopped moving the arm. He slowly turned to look at Tony with a serious expression settled on his face. “Why?” He nodded at his new arm. Plus he couldn’t help but ask.

“I uh, I felt bad about your arm. So I decided to make you one. I didn’t know if Panther was making one for you using Vibranium. I thought I could try because I felt bad. It was a mistake,” Tony said softly. He was looking at the floor. “Sorry uh, that was… I hope you like it. It was a project I created pretty quickly.”

“Like it?” Bucky grinned. “Tony, I… I love it. Thank you for making this, for me.” He pulled Tony in for a hug. Tony went stiff for a second, but relaxed. He hugged Bucky back, and rested his head on his shoulder. They were in this position for about a minute.

“Boss, the army is gaining the upper hand in Bleecker Street,” F.R.I.D.A.Y suddenly said. The men broke the hug.

Bucky wiped his tears hastily. Tony nodded his head at what his AI said.

“I have something for you,” Tony said to Steve.

He went to the back of his lab. Steve heard a metal clanking against another metal. He heard Tony grunting and finally pulling out something metallic.

“Thought you might need this.” Tony offered Steve the shield. Black Panther’s scratch marks were gone and it looked brand new. “I cleaned it up and was waiting for the right opportunity, Cap.”

Steve sighed. He knew Tony wasn’t going to like what he was going to say next. “Tony, I um, keep the shield. I’m probably mission control on this one.”

Tony and Bucky frowned. “Why?” Tony asked.

“You might not get it, Tony,” Steve started. He was not giving any of them eye contact. “I… It’s just that, the decisions I made in Siberia… it’s not something Captain America would have made. I don’t think I’m right for this anymore. I chose to bring Bucky away and go into hiding, as Steve Rogers. I dropped the shield and walked away. I… I think I will help out via comms.”

Tony raised an eyebrow at him. “What you want to pass the mantle to someone? You can do that another day. And just… Forget the decisions you made then. The world, possibly, may need you and you’re backing out now?”

“I’m a fugitive right now. In fact, I shouldn’t even have entered the United States. Captain America is this… I don’t think I should hold the shield while being a fugitive, Tony. You were kind of right when you said I didn’t deserve the shield.”

“Stop twisting my words Steve! I said that out of anger!” Tony’s face darkened slightly.

“Tony just try to understand where I am coming from-“

“No. You need to suit up and come with us _now_.”

Steve didn’t move. He was looking at the floor, hands buried deep inside his pants pockets.

“You know what, I don’t have time for this,” Tony said sharply. He hurled the shield to the side of the lab. The shield ricocheted off the wall and flew towards one of Tony’s monitors. There was a loud crack and a crash. Steve and Bucky flinched at sound while Tony was standing in front of Steve’s face, looking unfazed. “You’re abandoning your team, Rogers. That’s what you’re doing now. If I die in this battle, don’t come and look for my body.”

He stormed off the lab. Steve exhaled a shaky breath.

“You alright, punk?” Bucky asked. He was giving Steve the pity look. He placed his metal arm on Steve’s shoulder. “You sure about this?”

Steve nodded his head. Both of them silently walked out of the lab.

“I think you should re-consider,” Bucky said quietly. “They need you there, Steve.” Bucky walked away. He was already asking the AI for the sniper rifles' location.

Steve was standing on the empty hallway. He closed his eyes for a second. He knew it was stupid of him to back their play by just speaking over the earpiece. But he felt like he wasn’t worthy enough for the Captain America mantle anymore. He was thinking about this when he was in Wakanda. He didn’t really speak to anyone about it; it was usually internal arguments. Steve knew people wouldn’t react well if he told them about this. Tony’s reaction was the evidence. Plus, now, Tony wasn’t happy with Steve.

Like everything that happened before this wasn’t enough.

“Great,” Steve muttered to himself. “He is mad and I’ll never be able to open up to him.”

…

Natasha was looking at both portals. The armies were pouring in, not caring about getting hit by the heroes fighting. Hulk was already smashing the Frost Giants coming out from the second portal, opened at 170 Bleecker Street. Hawkeye was trying his luck on his EMP arrows. Thor was calling lightning and was pouring it straight into the first portal. Some of the Frost Giants got electrocuted while some others escaped out. Wanda was continuously creating shields to protect her teammates when the Frost Giants were shooting sharp edged ice at them.

“Guys, we need a strategy,” Natasha said. She was using her stingers on some Frost Giants. It only did really minimal amount of damage to them. “Iron Man, where is Cap?”

Iron Man was flying in with Bucky. He dropped Bucky on one of the buildings’ roofs and flew down to where Natasha was standing.

“Consider him mission control for this,” Tony said, bitterly as he landed.

“What?!” Natasha asked with an incredulous look on her face. “Why?”

“He said he does not feel worthy of the Cap mantle anymore, especially after what happened in Siberia,” Tony said while firing some repulsor blasts at a Frost Giant. “He’ll be on comms.”

“Really, leader on comms at this hour?” Clint sighed. His EMP arrows weren’t working on the armies.

“We need a strategy!” Natasha said angrily.

Tony sighed.

“Clint, you need to be up on that roof, fire up some explosive arrows onto the portal and armies, and call out any patterns,” Tony instructed. “I’ll give you a ride.”

“Do _not_ call me Legolas, again,” Clint warned him.

Iron Man flew up to the roof opposite of where Bucky was and dropped Clint.

“The rest of us, here, we try to push the armies back. Thor, you need to find the main guy. I’ll talk to the Defenders and join you,” Tony just kept on firing orders. “I’ll try to link all our comms together.”

“I will, Iron Man!” Thor replied with enthusiasm.

Iron Man flew towards the first portal, about 52 meters away, opened on 186 Bleecker Street. There, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage were doing their best to push back the armies into the portal. Daredevil and Iron Fist were fighting with a single opponent. Doctor Strange was using his powers to push back the armies. Vision was using his high density form to try to knock them off their feet and Spiderman was webbing 3 Frost Giants together.

“Mr. Stark!” Spiderman called excitedly. “Glad to see you here!”

Tony smiled. “Good to see you too, Spidey. Care to fill me in?” He was already adjusting the comms to match the frequency of that of the Defenders.

“They suddenly opened these two portals and started to walk in,” Spiderman said. “I was just swinging by, going home after some rounds and saw the Defenders fighting them. So I joined them! Aunt May is not gonna be happy if she finds out I’m not at home!”

“Want to go back home?” Danny Rand suddenly asked. “Because we might get this.”

“I’m helping out!” Spiderman huffed. Danny sucker punched his opponent and then turned to Spiderman to give him a smug grin.

“It’s hard to push them back. They’re really tall and the portals are strong,” Luke added.

“We need to find the stone the leader has!” Doctor Strange said. “If these idiots slip by, they could enter my place and take the other stone.”

Tony’s eyes widened at that information. “I thought the other one was in another dimension?”

“No,” Doctor Strange shook his head. “I’ve been investigating it. If it was in another dimension, the leader could easily take it by creating a portal.”

“There really are many questions we have,” Jessica sighed. She kicked one of the Frost Giants at his crotch, sending him back.

“Yeah, why attack us if the leader can take the second stone without any problem?” Daredevil asked.

At this time, Thor landed beside Iron Man. “It’s because they want to take over this entire planet,” he answered.

“They want to show us that we are weak, defenseless,” Iron Fist added. Their conversation went on and they were fighting back. But Tony was thinking. He knew there could be something done here. But he needs a few more team members to arrive before he can think about doing something.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y,” Tony said quietly, to himself in the armor. “We need the good Captain to strategize our moves. I need to look at the science stuff here. Will he come?” He sounded like he lost all hopes for a second.

“Boss,” the AI replied calmly. “He just might change his mind.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Steve change his mind?  
> If you've got feedback you can leave it at the comments below. I'd be more than glad to read and reply! :)


	21. The Battle - Part 2- The Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Battle continues and a few more people, including Tony, de-age.  
> This means there will be a younger Tony and Cap interaction!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! It's Friday and finally the weekend is here!  
> I hope you guys are doing fine. Thank you for all your support so far! It's over 20 chapters; you guys came a long way! :)  
> This chapter is slightly longer than the others.  
> For now, happy reading!

The good Captain was standing in the penthouse, looking out of the windows. He was staring at the other buildings, thinking. He was feeling conflicted. Should he not go there? But if he doesn’t, it’s like he was selfish. He dropped the shield for a reason and it didn’t feel right to pick it up again. Yes, there were many heroes assembled there, fighting the battle. But they needed a leader and he was a natural at it. They need him and he simply deserted all of them.

“Steve?” a voice shook him out of his thoughts. “What are you doing here?”

Steve quickly turned behind. He was looking at Rhodey, holding the couch to stop himself from falling. “Colonel.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be out there with the others, fighting? Avenging?” Rhodey was frowning at him. He was holding a tablet on his free hand. He was wearing the exoskeleton and he looked like he was trying not to show his pain.

“I uh…” Steve didn’t know how to explain. “I feel conflicted. And I’m... I'm sorry about what happened to you.”

Rhodey gave him a skeptical look. “Well, worst things could have happened.” Steve internally cringed at that. “So, you’re on comms with them?”

“Going to be,” Steve sighed. He was toying with his earpiece. “I’ll instruct the others from here.”

“Really? You’re not going there? I thought Tony was kidding,” Rhodey said. “Captain America not being there just feels wrong, Steve.”

“I feel conflicted. After all the decisions I made, I just don’t know if I can pick up that shield again.”

Rhodey walked towards Steve. He let go of the couch for just a second, but that was a mistake. He began to wobble and lost balance. Before Steve could catch him, he fell onto the floor on all fours.

“Arghhh,” Rhodey grunted. He adjusted himself so that he was now seated properly on the floor. “I’m okay, I’m okay.” He panted.

Steve knelt down beside him and closed his eyes. He knew Rhodey shouldn’t have been a victim. He let out a sad sigh, as he turned to look at the man still trying to rise up above his challenges.

“I’m still alive, Steve,” Rhodey started. He was looking at the floor. “That fall should have killed me. But it didn’t. I’m still trying to walk. Ever since I got discharged, I’ve been trying to walk. Tony gave me this exoskeleton to help. But it sucks, not being able to walk on my own. I even argued with Tony, told him I wanted to join them as War Machine.” He let out a small laugh before continuing.

“He said _over my cold dead body_. He let me help them with F.R.I.D.A.Y and with this tablet. I would be more than willing to go out and help them, though.” He placed an arm on Steve’s shoulder. “I know you’re having your inner arguments. But your team, New York, world, people, everyone needs you. It’s not about the government and accords right now. It’s about the people and your friends. They need their capable leader, Steve. Push in your inner arguments and go. Do you want to look at what is happening there? I’ll show you the videos from security cameras available there.”

Rhodey activated the tablet. He pressed a few things and opened up the security footages.

The teams on both sides were doing all they could. No one really spoke anything. They were trying not to let the Frost Giants get past them. The Avengers were on one side and the Defenders were on the other. Steve’s instinct immediately saw what was wrong. He also wasn’t prepared to look at one of the Frost Giants shooting sharp edged ice at his teammates. Wanda could only create so many shields at a certain speed, especially when the Giants were aiming high and low at the same time. The ice weapon hit Natasha’s abdomen area, sending her crashing onto the road.

“ _Nat!_ ” Iron Man shouted. He flew towards her to check on her when another ice hit him straight in his arc reactor. Iron Man fell down too. But within seconds, his unibeam was activated. The ice melted but Steve knew the man inside the suit was shaken. “ _Clint and Bucky take cover!_ ”

Steve was beyond horrified to fine the army now shooting tiny ice at the team; like bullets from a machine gun. Iron Man was standing in front of Natasha, firing repulsor blasts at the ice. “ _Wanda conjure your biggest shield for yourself and us! Defenders watch out! Thor bring out some lightning, buddy!_ ” Steve realized Tony immediately took on the leader positon, but there was only so much of orders even the genius could give. He knew Tony wanted to look at the science aspect of the battle; the stone and how to destroy it rather than giving orders.

Wanda created a big red shield. She was using all her energy she had to keep the shield up. Hulk trying to get past it wasn’t helping. Steve could tell the pressure she was in was overwhelming. Wanda fell to her knees with her face all scrunched up. Doctor Strange was already conjuring up another shield near the Defenders’ side. Thor was calling lightning; he was hovering a few meters above the road. After a few seconds, he slammed his hammer down on the middle of the street with all his might. There were electricity sparks flying around the impact area.

All the shields broke and nearly everyone there fell down, including the Frost Giants. The buildings were still standing, but glass windows shattered, trees were uprooted and the street now had a big hole with the courtesy of Thor. A car had a small explosion that rocked that entire area. Doors from the buildings were completely annihilated. Thank God, the civilians were out of there.

As the dust cleared, Steve saw that there was no movement at all. No army came out of the portal and the heroes were either sitting or lying down on the road. Hulk and Luke Cage were pretty much the only ones still standing. Plus it was eerily quiet.

At the Tower, a screen suddenly popped up near Steve and Rhodey. Tony’s face appeared. He had a fresh cut on his sweat coated forehead and he looked _very_ tired.

“Rhod… Cap, Steve!” Tony cried out. “You’re looking all pumped up and angry! Good! We need you here to lead both sides so that Thor and I can get the stones! Cap, we need you. It’s getting harder to beat them as the hour passes.” Tony’s voice cracked at the end. He closed his eyes for a second and opened them. The screen faded out.

Rhodey turned to look at the Captain. He was breathing heavily and he looked angry. He was looking at the blank screen with a steely gaze. Rhodey raised his eyebrows.

“They need your help,” he said softly. Steve nodded his head.

He helped Rhodey up. While walking to the couch to help make Rhodey sit, Steve said in a dangerously low voice, “F.R.I.D.A.Y, open up the garage. I’m taking the Harley.”

Rhodey had goosebumps all over him.

...

It looked like stalemate just a second ago. But one second was a long time. Because the next thing the heroes know, the armies of Frost Giants walked out of the portal.

Clint and Bucky were already up.

“What the hell!” Clint shouted over the comms. “Look at that!”

Everyone slowly got up. They were back to square one, using their weapons to its maximum capacities. Thor groaned in frustration.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, please tell me Cap is on his way,” Tony sighed.

“He is, boss. He is speeding here in his Harley. ETA in about 4 minutes,” the AI replied.

“Alright,” Tony smiled, slightly. “I need you to do me a favor. I sent you some energy levels emitted from the stone while I was looking at it on our first day in Boston. Scan this entire area for it. I want to know where those godforsaken stones are.”

“I’m on it,” the AI replied.

“Alright guys,” Tony directed this at the others. “I have had our comms tweaked a little so we can now speak to the Defenders and vice versa. Cap’s ETA is in about 3-4 minutes. I am already looking for the stones. The rest of us, we do our best to push back the armies. Go on!”

Bucky was already shooting down some of the Giants. But the bullets did little damage to them. Clint’s arrows also did little damage. Natasha was getting frustrated because they weren’t making any progress. The Defenders were simply trying their best.

“Come on,” Tony said through gritted teeth. His repulsor blasts did slow them down slightly, because of the heat. “Heat affects them! We need fire power. F.R.I.D.A.Y, tell me Sam is already near New York!”

“He is close,” the AI replied. “He will be entering the state within the next hour. Captain Rogers is already here. He is just two seconds away from reaching you.”

As if on cue, there was a loud crash from one of the stores. Captain America jumped out of a broken window, with his shield held firmly in front of him. Black Panther and Ant Man landed beside Natasha and Tony.

“Always making an entrance,” Bucky huffed.

“What is the update, Iron Man?” Steve immediately went to point.

“Welcome back, Cap,” Clint said. There was a hint of gratefulness in his tone.

“The armies are becoming difficult to push back, especially because they’re too big. The stones are still out there. Thor and I need to find them so that he can destroy them,” Tony replied.

“Good job leading both teams so far, Tony,” Steve said. “But we need to mix them together and, create a third team.”

This got nearly everyone’s attention.

“Team 1, at the first portal behind me; Bucky try to take them out using your capabilities. Hulk, keep smashing them into the portal. Wanda, use your powers to push them back or rip them apart. If you see any of us in danger, create shields. Iron Fist, join us here. Clint, you join the others there. Spidey, wrap the Giants together and swing them back. Nat, you stay with me. We take down any Frost Giant who crosses that Spanish café,” Captain America just fired orders. There were movements among the two teams.

“Team 2, Daredevil, inform us if you hear anything out of the ordinary. Luke and Jessica, keep pushing them back. Clint, use your explosive arrows. Try your electro-arrows at the portal too! Doctor Strange, try to push them back and create shields if needed. Vision, try and melt them. To push them back, increase your density. Black Panther, your highness, I need you to work with Daredevil to take out any Frost Giant who crosses that Vietnamese restaurant.” Cap quickly called out.

“Team 3, Thor, Iron Man and Ant Man, I need you three to work together to get the stones. Thor, Doctor Strange will open you a portal so that you can destroy the stones. If any of us gets de-aged in this battle, use the miracle liquid quickly. Tony scan for the stone. Ant Man, work with Tony,” Cap said. “Avengers and Defenders, let’s move!”

Everyone quickly got to work. Thor and Iron Man were flying together, with Ant Man shrunk to a smaller size, sitting on Tony’s armor. The rest of them were punching the Frost Giants, trying to push them back. Doctor Strange was levitating and using his powers to make the Frost Giants fall instead of walking in. Black Widow easily broke a few Frost Giants’ limbs.

Her suit took most of the impact, even though she was bleeding slightly because of that ice attack. But giving up was never in her mindset. So she used the skills she knew.

Hawkeye fired an electro-arrow straight into the portal. There was a sudden charge of electricity, which stopped the Frost Giants from coming out for a few seconds. He fired an explosive arrow right after that. Some of the Frost Giants fell back into the portal. Others partially melted.

“Hell yeah!” Clint smiled smugly.

“Good job keep going!” Jessica said to him.

“Boss, I’ve located both the stones,” F.RI.D.A.Y suddenly said. “One of them is in Doctor Strange’s place. A Frost Giant is already taking it. The other is with the leader, in the Spanish café.”

“What?!” Tony said. “Thor! There is a Frost Giant trying to take away the stone in Strange’s place. Get on him now! Heads up guys, the leader is in the Spanish café.”

“I’m on my way, guys,” Sam’s voice suddenly came over the earpiece.

“Sam!” Tony sighed in relieve. “Before you get here, bring in some flamethrowers. They’re in the S.H.I.E.L.D weapons vault in level 54! Quick!”

“I’m on it,” Sam assured him.

“Boss, the stone with the leader is being activated,” his AI warned him.

“Oh no!” Tony said loudly.

In fact, that was the last thing Tony said before a wave of purple hit him. Scott had returned to his normal size but he was hit by the wave too. Both the armor and Scott came crashing down onto the middle of the road. The armor had quickly grabbed Scott, so he didn’t have much of an injury.

Scott was de-aged to about a 4 year old boy.

“Tony! Scott!” Steve shouted in panic. “F.R.I.D.A.Y, take control of his armor and fly them to the convenience store. Nat, take care here for just a second.”

“Go we got this,” she assured him.

Steve dodged several ice bullets using his shield. The bullets made a “klang”, “klang”, “klang” sound when it hit the shield and ricocheted off. Steve ran to where the armor had just landed with Scott. He ordered the AI to override and open up Tony’s armor. The armor did open up. A boy, about 4 years old with big tearful brown eyes looked up. There was a smile on the boy’s face when he recognized Captain America looking down at him with concern.

“Cap?” he said with awe. “Dad found you?”

“Let’s hear what kind of a Cap fanboy Tony was,” Clint said cheerfully.

Steve let out a small laugh. “Tony. Scott. Nice to meet you two.”

“Pleased to meet you too, Cap!” Scott said. He too looked very excited.

Tony didn’t say anything. He quickly got out of the armor and flung his arms around Steve’s neck. “Dad found you!” he squealed in joy.

Steve hugged back. But he let out a huge sigh. He extended his arms to Scott, who was looking down. Scott smiled before snuggling closer to Captain America. “Both of you are safe with me.” He assured them. “Look kids, I hate to say this but we’re in the middle of a huge battle-“

“Are you with the Howling Commandos?! Is Aunt Peggy here too?! Is your best friend Bucky-“ Tony clamped his mouth shut. “Sorry Cap, sorry sorry I forgot he died. Don’t get mad at me. Dad always got mad at me because I always say the wrong thing. Please. Don’t tell dad or else he’ll slap me. And his slaps hurt all the time.” Tony’s eyes began to well up again. He was practically begging Steve, who was patting the little boy’s back. He was whispering calm reassurances to a shaking Tony. Deep inside, he simply felt like socking Howard in the jaw.

Clint and Natasha exhaled loudly upon hearing Tony’s words. There was an extra loud roar from the Hulk and a little gasp from Wanda.

“Wow,” Bucky said over the comms. “Didn’t know that man became a dick.”

“What’s a dick?” Tony asked while pouting. Steve was wiping away the tears from the little boy’s eyes. His hand froze when he heard that question.

“Isn’t that what guys have?” Scott thought out loud. “My neighborhood boys used to say that.”

“Bucky please,” Steve sighed. He squeezed shut his eyes. “The comms are still attached to them.”

“He’s here?!” Tony asked, excitement pouring out of him.

“Yeah. And actually, I have something to tell the both of you,” Steve announced. “I don’t know how to put this. But both of you are actually in the future.”

Scott’s eyes widened at this. But Tony frowned.

“Both of you got de-aged during battle,” Steve carefully said.

“We’re adults?” Scott asked, bewildered.

“Yes actually,” Steve smiled. “Both of you are healthy, good looking adults.”

“But Bucky fell off a train. How did he not die? Bucky, Bucky, you there?” Tony said, with energy bouncing in him.

“Yes young fella, I’m here,” Bucky replied. Steve could hear the smile in his voice.

“Oh my God so Cap got his best friend back! Dad must be happy too!” Tony squealed again. Natasha let out a small laugh at the excitement Tony showed.

“I am happy, Tony. I’m actually happy to see you,” Steve said. “I just hate the circumstances of our meeting.”

“Cap,” Tony drawled. He looked up at Steve shyly. “You need the two healthy, good looking adults back right?”

“He’s been a smart guy since such a young age!” Clint laughed. “Ow! That bas-mustard hit me with an ice. It ffu-lying hurts!”

Tony and Scott giggled at what they heard. Steve cleared his throat.

“I got the stone!” Thor’s voice cut the chatter.

“Thor heads up!” Doctor Strange spoke up. “Jessica has been de-aged into a teenage girl! Give her the cure. She’s not going to be the only one. Tony and Scott are in that convenience store. Get them back.”

“Where am I?” a girl’s voice was heard in through the earpiece. “My parents and brother… There was an accident….”

“Jessica, listen to me,” Luke's voice was heard. “You’re… You survived that accident. Okay? You’re okay.”

“Where am I?” a boy’s voice was heard. The boy was crying. “Baba! I’m scared! Baba!!”

“Your highness!” Natasha exclaimed.

Steve looked out of the store just in time to witness Natasha dive towards the de-aged T’Challa. She grabbed the young boy and landed at the other side of the road, bringing him away from the line of fire.

“You’re safe,” she kept saying it to him, like a chant. She was hugging and coaxing the little boy.

“Tony! I’m here with the flamethrowers… Shit!” Sam’s voice came through. Steve saw a wave of purple hitting him.

A teenage boy was now flying in the air. The flamethrowers and wings were too heavy for him. He was diving straight to the road.

“Holy shit!” he exclaimed.

“Thor! Catch Sam!” Captain America ordered.

Thor swung his hammer quickly, for flight, and launched himself upward. He caught Sam and sprinkled the Puddle of Truth liquid on him. Sam changed back to his adult self within a matter of seconds. He continued to circle around the area while Thor returned back down.

“Captain, Daredevil had been de-aged too!” Thor sounded exasperated.

“Then get them back,” Steve sighed. The battle was going nowhere and Steve knew all teams were tired already.

“Maybe we got to go,” Scott said. “But it was a pleasure meeting you, Cap.”

“Pleasure is mine, Scott.” Steve ruffled that little boy’s hair.

Tony on the other hand looked very down. Whatever excitement he had was long gone. “I don’t want to leave you, Cap.”

“Tony, you’re not leaving me. It’s just your adult-self coming back,” Steve tried to assure him. “Don’t be down, young man. You’re not going anywhere and neither am I.”

There were tears streaming down Tony’s face. He nodded his head and took in deep breaths. “Okay, Cap. B…but I will miss you.”

Steve smiled a little. But his heart sank after hearing little Tony’s words. “I will miss you too, Tony.”

Little Tony gave the good Captain another hug. This time, Steve held the little boy closer to him. He was slowly patting Tony’s back. He wished he wasn’t frozen so that he could have spent a good amount of time with little Tony. But nothing can be changed. So Steve held onto Tony a little longer. Before withdrawing, he gave the boy’s wet cheek a kiss. He wiped away his tears and cupped his face with his hands.

“I love you, Cap,” Tony sniffled.

Steve let out a small gasp. But he recovered. “I love you too, Tony.”

“Captain,” Thor said as he entered the store. “I need to bring these two boys with me. The liquid has finished. I’ll destroy the first stone and bring them back.”

Steve stood up. “Sure. Just, take care of them.” He turned to the boys. “Oh, Scott and Tony, this is Thor. A teammate and friend of mine. You can trust him, he’s a pretty funny guy and he’s a God.”

Both the little boys’ eyes widened.

“We need to go,” Thor smiled at them. “Doctor Strange, it’s up to you.”

Steve sent the boys with Thor. He was holding both the boys close to him and was walking to the portal opened by Doctor Strange. It was opened near the place Luke and Jessica were fighting.

Tony turned behind to have one last look at Steve. Steve waved at him for as long as he could. But he was forced to focus on the battle. He continued to push back, along with Natasha.

Tony’s eyes welled up when he walked through the portal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How will this battle end though?  
> If you've got any feedback, you can drop it at the comments below! :)


	22. The Battle - Part 3 - Fight On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They keep pushing back the army and one last hero gets de-aged. Plus another team of heroes join the last part of the battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I hope you guys are fine. Thank you for all your support so far, I really appreciate them. :)  
> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.  
> Happy reading! :)

Thor decided to soften the stone first. He was kneeling while holding it and submerged it into the Puddle. It was already seven minutes and the stone only showed little signs of softening. Tony and Scott were sitting on two separate big rocks, in front of the protective eyes of Thor.

Scott was looking up at the skies. The night sky was slowly turning pinkish-orange, which meant dawn was settling. A shiver ran down his spine, he was only wearing shorts and a top. He wrapped his arms around himself.

“So… you’re a God?” Tony asked. He too wrapped his arms around himself as it got colder.

“Indeed I am,” Thor answered.

“So like… Can you hear my thoughts? What am I thinking now?” Tony asked enthusiastically.

“I am the God of Thunder and Lightning. With this hammer of mine, I can command them,” Thor said. “I might not be able to read minds, Tony.”

“Can I hold the hammer?” Tony asked.

“You can only lift it if you’re worthy. If not, it would be too heavy.”

Tony got up and went towards the hammer. He gave it a long look before holding the handle. For a moment, he felt confident. He felt like he could lift it. He tightened his grip and felt the energy coursing through him. Thor turned to look at Tony. He saw Tony’s brown eyes slowly turning blue. He totally forgot he was dissolving the stone because he was that mesmerized at the little boy’s effort; which was paying off because the hammer moved. Maybe he was worthy after all.

But Tony gave up the attempt. He let go of the handle and went back to sit on the rock. The blue in his irises vanished.

“Why did you leave it?” Scott asked. “I think you almost had it!”

“No,” Tony said. He was looking at the leaves instead of Scott. “Dad always said I’m good for nothing. So I can’t be worthy. But you can try.” He smiled at Scott.

Thor frowned at that statement.

“I don’t want to know if I’m worthy or not,” Scott shrugged.

At that moment, Doctor Strange’s voice came through the earpiece.

“Thor, whatever you’re doing it’s working! The portal I’m at is weakening. In fact, it’s closing!”

Thor turned to look at the stone. It was getting softer, with the purple vanishing.

“How about the second portal?” Thor asked.

“You need the other stone for that.”

Thor sighed. “Alright, the stone is completely softened.”

“But the portal is still open and it’s weak!” Jessica said.

“I think I have an idea,” Tony piped up. “I think you need to juice it up. Like, since the stone softening helped with the portal closing, I think to close it the soft stone has to get into contact with the portal.”

Everyone went silent for a while.

“How sure are you about that, Tony?” Thor asked.

“Well part of that stone was used, so to close the portal you either activate the stone when it’s in its solid form or create contact using the soft one,” Tony shrugged. “It’s a suggestion. I don’t know if it’ll work.”

“It kinda makes sense,” Doctor Strange spoke up. “Thor, get the soft one here. And bring our two boys back please.”

“You’re smart,” Scott smiled at Tony. “Your dad, Mr. Stark, doesn’t know anything about you!

“Thanks, Scott,” Tony grinned.

Thor motioned for the boys to come to where he was kneeling. He collected the liquid and stored it in the glass ornament, before splashing some at the boys.

“Tony, you’re a genius. Don’t ever let Howard’s words get to you,” Steve’s firm voice was heard.

“Thanks Cap,” Tony said.

That would be the last thing de-aged Tony would hear before being reverted back to his adult-self.

…

“Thor, I’ll get into my armor. Stand by with the stone. I’ll give you juice!” Tony said.

The three men ran out of the portal and back to New York. Scott was running with Tony, to get his suit back on.

“You were a cute and smart boy,” Scott said. He was panting while running.

Tony turned to him and raised his eyebrows. “Uh, thanks?”

Scott chuckled.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, open up,” Tony ordered. “Give me full control.”

Tony flew out of the store. He stopped in front of the first portal.

“Thor, on my mark you’ll throw the soft remnants at the portal,” Tony said. “The rest of you at 186, get out of there!”

The others who were there, ran to the opposite side of the street. Luke, Jessica and Doctor Strange sent the last of the Frost Giants into the portal before leaving the area.

Even Clint who was on the roof started to run to another roof. Daredevil joined him within a few seconds. He grabbed Clint and they both jumped over a building to another. They landed quite gracefully.

“Thanks man!” Clint panted. Daredevil gave him a pat on the back before continuing his run.

Once the coast was clear, Tony called it. “Thor now!!”

Thor threw the soft remnants of the stone at the portal. He then raised his hammer up to get some lightning. Tony fired his unibeam straight into the middle of the portal while Thor poured lightning into it with full power.

“Sam, flamethrowers!” Tony called when the portal took too long to close.

The Frost Giants at the second portal were looking at their first with awe. It was lit up with fire and lightning. Those who were in the portal started to melt. And it was beginning to close.

“It’s working!” Doctor Strange shouted. He created a strong shield around the rest of the heroes, who were behind him.

“Sam get back!” Tony ordered.

He stopped the flamethrowers and flew behind Doctor Strange’s shield.

It only took a few more seconds. The portal closed fully with a violent huff of wind. Thor flew backwards but managed to stabilize himself. Tony was caught off guard. He did a few somersaults in the air.

“Boss, armor integrity has been compromised,” his AI warned him. Tony was slightly giddy. “It’s down to 31%.”

“I know,” he managed to say. “But how? I built this to withstand great amount of forces!”

“Boss, the amount of force emitted by that closed portal was beyond the _great amount of forces_ ,” the AI deadpanned. Tony sighed.

“One portal closed, guys,” Steve said. He felt slightly relieved. “The rest of us, pour it on! Push them back! Team 3 keep looking for the second stone.”

Everyone left to do their jobs quickly. Wanda and Doctor Strange were working together to push back the army. Spiderman was webbing some up in groups and swung it to where Luke and Jessica were. They punched the groups, sending them back to where they came from. Danny Rand was able to break some of their limbs and he flipped them to the Hulk and to Black Panther, who was using his claws to slice through them. Steve and Natasha were pushing back whoever who crossed the Spanish restaurant. Vision joined them, and used his high density form to knock them off. He dodged some of their punches and ice bullets by changing his tangibility.

“Guys move away! Flamethrowers coming through!” Sam said.

He flew straight towards the second portal and stopped just a few centimeters away from it. The others moved out of his way. Sam then launched the flames at the portal. Several Frost Giants began to melt. Some of them ran back down the portal. That was the first time they all heard the Frost Giants’ screams. Sam cheered while firing in.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, where is the stone?” Tony asked. He was still circling around, with Ant Man seated on his armor.

Spidey was swinging around the street to land at a safer place.

“Oh God, why is my Spidey senses tingling?” he asked himself.

Before he could do anything, a wave of purple hit him. A very young boy, about 4 years old, was screaming now. He didn’t know how to control his flight, thus he ended up diving straight to the ground.

“Spidey!” Luke shouted in panic.

“Shit,” Tony cursed. “Scott hold on.”

Tony flew as fast as he could and caught the little boy, who was crying. They flew past the others and landed in the convenience store.

“What are you?” Peter sobbed at Iron Man. “Where is Uncle Ben? Aunt May?” Tony sighed before putting down Peter.

He got out of his armor. “Pleased to meet you.” Tony stretched out his hand and smiled. Peter reluctantly shook it. “My name is Tony.”

“Mine is Pet… Peter,” he replied. “You were inside that… metal thing?”

Tony kneeled in front of the little boy. “Yeah. I made it actually, to fight the bad guys.”

At this point, Scott sat back and was watching Tony and Peter interact. He was ready to get back to his normal size to console the boy; he had a daughter after all. But he was afraid his sudden appearance would scare the already shaken boy.

“You’re a… superhero?” Peter gaped.

“That sounds, very outlandish. You could put it that way.” Tony shrugged.

“You’re bleeding,” Peter said quietly. He stretched out his little hand. “You don’t mind me touching you?”

It took all of Tony’s willpower to not roll his eyes. “I don’t bite.”

Little Peter slowly placed his palm on Tony’s forehead. He wiped away the mixture of blood and sweat from Tony’s temple, which was rolling down. He brought his palm down and traced his goatee, before placing it on his cheek. Tony tilted his head and rested it on Peter’s tiny palm. He let out a contented sigh. Peter took his other hand and placed it on the other cheek. He was looking at Tony’s goatee, in astonishment.

“I like your beard,” he blurted out. Scott snorted while Tony raised an eyebrow.

“It’s called a goatee,” Tony corrected him.

After a few seconds, Peter asked in a quiet voice, “Tony, will you bring me back home to Uncle Ben and Aunt May?”

Tony looked at the little boy. He ruffled the boy’s hair and tried to ignore the ache that was growing in his chest area. He then moved his hands, so that his big and warm palms were holding Peter’s little ones. He gave the boy a smile. “I’ll try.”

Peter’s face brightened up. “Thank you, Tony. And… your goatee is nice.” Tony looked down at the floor and chuckled.

“He’s not gonna let that go!” Clint was laughing, along with many other heroes. “Such a fanboy! Hey how did that Frost Giant manage to get out?!”

“Oh no!” Scott suddenly said. “Tony look out!”

“Incoming!” Steve warned Tony. “Tony watch out for that bastard!”

Tony looked back up just in time to catch a Frost Giant running towards them. The Giant jumped up and was ready to punch the boy.

Tony immediately grabbed Peter and rolled out of the Giant’s way. The punch was missed. Tony took a basket full of keychains and hurled it at the Giant, to distract him. One of them sliced right through the Frost Giant’s neck.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y take charge and blast that bastard,” he ordered. “Divert full power to the chest.”

The armor closed and lighted up. After a second of loading, the powerful unibeam was blasted at the Giant. It went straight through him, creating a big hole on his chest. The Giant fell down.

Tony sighed and lied down, placing a now sobbing Peter on his chest. “Hey, hey Peter, you alright?”

The boy slowly looked up at Tony, fear written all over his face. “Is he gone?”

“Yeah he is!” Tony assured him. Peter placed his head back on Tony's chest and snuggled closer to his neck. Tony held him protectively for a few more seconds. He gave the boy's back a few pats. “Thor, bring in the miracle liquid to the convenience store, buddy.

As if on cue, Thor ran in.

Both Peter and Tony got up and adjusted themselves. Peter quickly hid behind Tony’s legs when he saw Thor.

“Hey, this is my friend Thor. Don’t be scared. Just say hi,” Tony said. Peter slowly walked and stood in front of Thor, who grinned at him.

“Tony, remember to bring me home okay?” Peter asked innocently. “And uh, hi.”

“Hello.” Thor smiled.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Tony ruffled his hair.

Thor immediately sprinkled some water on Peter.

“Thor, can you get an aerial view and see where the Frost Giant leader is?” Tony requested. He went back into his armor. “Give me full control.” He instructed his AI.

Thor immediately left after sprinkling the liquid. Peter returned back to his normal age. Before he looked around, he quickly slipped his mask back on.

“You okay?” Tony asked him.

“Last thing I remember was my Spidey senses tingling,” Peter replied.

“Well, weird things have happened. Let’s go back,” Tony said. Both of them flew out of the store together; Spiderman back to the battle while Iron Man and Ant Man up higher to circle around again.

Thor had landed on the rooftop Bucky was perched on to get an aerial view.

All of a sudden, a Frost Giant launched himself at Thor.

“Where did he come from?” Bucky exclaimed.

The others gathered below looked up. Tony and Scott were looking down at how Thor was wrestling the Frost Giant. Bucky began to shoot but it had little effect.

Thor and Frost Giant didn’t see where they were going. Both of them wrestled till they were at the edge of the roof. Thor tripped and he pulled the Frost Giant with him, falling straight down to the pavement and letting go of his hammer accidentally. As his hands were occupied, Thor couldn’t call his hammer on time.

Bucky saw this. In a rush, he picked up Thor’s hammer, ran to the edge of the roof and tossed it to him. Thor saw this. He had no time to react. Hence he grabbed the hammer and called for lighting. Upon landing, Thor didn’t think twice about frying the Frost Giant.

“I wasn’t the only one who saw that, right?” Clint asked. He looked very surprised.

“No you weren’t,” Natasha replied.

Bucky now saw that everyone were looking at him from below, with awe. It took him two seconds to realize what he had done.

“Oh my God,” he muttered.

“Someone’s worthy,” Sam smirked.

“So only certain people can pick up his hammer?” Danny asked.

“Yeah. Those who are worthy,” Clint replied. Jessica raised an eyebrow at that.

“Thank you, Bucky,” Thor smiled from below. He then proceeded to swing his hammer to fly around with Tony.

The rest of them started to focus on the battle. The flamethrowers have already run out of fuel and the Frost Giants weren’t giving up. They slowly started to make their way towards them.

“They won’t give up until their leader does,” Steve growled. “Team 3, you gotta find the stone _and_ leader. They should be together.” Iron Man flew past Steve and the team. He gave them a thumbs up before flying higher. Thor joined his side after a few seconds.

“Okay Scott,” Tony said. “A Frost Giant appeared from the back of that building. There’s an alley in between. You think the leader is somewhere there?”

“Only one way to find out, Tony,” Scott replied. “Do you trust me?”

Tony frowned. “At this point of time, yeah.”

“Alright. I didn’t really expect that but… okay. Then in that case, drop me where Bucky is.”

“I don’t see the brilliance of this plan.”

“There’s a pipe up there that runs all the way down till the alley. I saw it while you were circling around. I can go through that. I’ll alert you if I see anything out of the ordinary,” Scott smiled.

“Alright,” Tony said.

He flew to where Bucky was standing and landed. Scott was about to jump down to the pipe. But Tony stretched out his palm. Scott walked and sat down on the gauntlet.

“Woah Tony, it’s so hot here!” Scott said.

“Yeah, probably because I was firing repulsor blasts at those idiots,” Tony smiled.

He gently brought down Scott, who wasn’t expecting Tony to do any of what he was doing.

“Good luck,” Tony wished him. Scott gave him a salute before jumping into the pipe.

Within seconds, Scott said, “Oh Tony, I have an instant regret on this decision.”

Tony laughed.

“It really stinks and looks disgusting,” Scott grimaced.

“Genius, out of every way you could have gone to that alley!” Tony chuckled.

“Yeah yeah I know,” Scott sighed.

“This is getting harder,” Jessica panted. “Anyone know what the time is?”

“It’s 3am,” Clint replied.

“You’re kidding!” Danny huffed. He gave another Frost Giant a hard blow. “We’ve been here for over five hours!”

“You’d rather fight The Purple Man 3 times than this, right?” Luke chuckled. Jessica answered that question with a glare.

Sam landed beside Steve. “We need more firepower.” Steve told him. “Do you think you can make a trip back to the Tower for more of these?” he pointed at the flamethrowers.

“Did someone say _firepower_?” a young man’s voice was heard.

“Guess someone is late for the party,” Clint said.

He fired an explosive arrow at a Frost Giant who got too near Steve. Steve saw this; he used his shield to give the Giant a hard blow. Vision assisted him by hitting the Frost Giant hard enough to send him to the entrance of the portal.

“The Fantastic Four,” Steve greeted.

“Can someone send that two rows of Giants back where they came from?” Black Widow requested.

There was a roar from the Hulk. He charged towards one of the row. Danny was standing in front of the other row. He was concentrating on summoning his Chi and on channeling it down his arm and into his hand. He did that until his hand became like a thing of iron.

Both Hulk and Danny punched the two rows of Frost Giants at the same time. The entire rows flew back into the portal, knocking out the other Giants who were walking out.

“That was powerful,” Sam commented.

"What did I just witness?" Bucky added on.

"The power of the Iron Fist and the Hulk," Danny smiled. "Good job, Hulk." The Hulk grinned at him.

“Thank you!” Black Widow said.

“We’re very late,” Reed Richards spoke. “We saw that you guys had it under control. But we thought you might need the assist.”

“Thanks, and we do,” Steve sighed. “Reed and Sue, I need you two to push back with us. Sue, create shields for anyone in danger, you can join Wanda there. Johnny, we need firepower. I need you to direct your flames into the portal. And Ben, join the Hulk. It’s clobberin time.”

"Exactly!" Ben said before running to where the Hulk was.

The others nodded and moved into position.

“Flame on!” Johnny shouted enthusiastically before flying off.

“Isn’t it eerie, Cap,” Tony said. “He looks like you, but like, the younger you.”

Clint snorted. Steve rolled his eyes at that before running down to assist the others.

“Oh boy, Tony,” Scott called. “You have no idea what I’m up to.”

“Don’t tell me you’re cleaning the pipe now,” Tony rolled his eyes. “Hey my girl F.R.I.D.A.Y, I think I asked you a question like four years ago.”

“Tony,” Rhodey’s voice came through instead of his AI's. “I’m looking at the alley with the help of your girl and details forwarded by Sam from Redwing. The stone and leader _are_ at the alley. Apparently there is another Frost Giant too, like a right-hand man.”

“Then what are we waiting for-“

“Tony wait!” Scott said. “I’m already halfway through.”

“Scott you’re a badass!” Rhodey cheered. “I’m looking right at what you’re doing!”

“What is he talking about?” Doctor Strange asked. He created a shield for Reed and proceeded to push another Frost Giant back.

“Well, Pym Particles can be used to shrink objects and people. So when I shrunk, a blade shrunk with me too. I’m cutting the leader’s chain loose so that you can get the pendant,” Scott informed.

Indeed, the leader and his right-hand Frost Giant were standing in the alley, planning to de-age or even wipe some of the heroes out of existence. What they didn’t know was that Ant Man had managed to get on the leader, and was halfway cutting the chain loose.

“I’m damn impressed,” Tony said enthusiastically. “Who recommended this guy to join us?”

“I did!” Sam laughed. He was hovering and firing his taser at some Frost Giants in the air along with Johnny Storm, who was shooting flames into the portal.

“Reed, some of those bastards have managed to get past us! Could you _kindly_ send them back!” Steve ordered.

Reed stretched out both his arms and caught all the Giants; there were just three of them. Sue created a shield for Reed from another Frost Giant and Wanda took the chance to push that Giant back.

Reed brought the three of them back and threw them into the portal. “Gosh their frostbite is bad!” he grimaced.

“You should watch out for that!” Thor said.

“Tony, come down. It’s already cut!” Scott said.

Iron Man flew down and stood in front of the two Frost Giants, taking them by full surprise. The leader raised his hand to place it on the pendant and closed his eyes. But before he could activate it, Scott pulled the chain out. The right-hand Giant pointed at the falling chain and gasped. Upon feeling something slipping, the leader opened his eyes.

In the process of reverting back to his normal size, Scott kicked the leader. The leader and his right-hand Giant got the wind knocked right out of them. They flew together and landed on some trash cans. The right-hand Giant immediately got up. He was dashing towards Scott, who immediately passed the pendant to Tony and shrunk himself. Iron Man took off. Daredevil jumped down from above, and knocked the right-hand Giant down.

Scott ran out of the alley and changed his size back to normal.

“Thor I got the prize!” Tony informed him. “The leader and his assistant are in the alley. Go get them guys!”

“I knocked the assistant down,” Daredevil said before running down to aid Luke.

“Portal please, Strange!” Thor requested.

Doctor Strange opened the portal back to Iceland for both of them. Thor and Iron Man flew right in.

Tony used the fingertip of the gauntlet to break open the pendant. The repulsor ray’s heat helped crack the strong glass. Thor then took the stone. They waited for three minutes for the puddle to show itself.

Thor then went on to soften the stone.

“Tony, they’re not there,” Steve’s voice came through.

“Yeah, I picked up every trash can and even tossed them back. I don’t see ‘em,” Luke affirmed.

“Try to go around the area. There’s no way they escaped,” Reed suggested.

Tony sighed. It was such a long night and he simply wanted to rest. 

“I do not think they left New York,” Thor said quietly. He squinted because of the sunlight when he looked up at Iron Man. “I am absolutely done with their behavior.”

“Trust us Thor,” Tony inhaled sharply. “We are about a 300% done too.”

They waited for a few more minutes.

“Okay the portal is weakening,” Wanda observed.

“Be ready to close it,” Thor warned Tony.

At this point, Tony was wondering if his armor could take the pressure or not. He sighed, because he did the math and he already knew the answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will the armor be able to take it?  
> Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! :)


	23. The Battle - Part 4- He Is Worthy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle ends with a surprise and everyone needs the medics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! How are you all?  
> Sorry, I had to upload this a day late because I was so busy.  
> I promise this is the last battle chapter!  
> I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far.  
> Happy reading! :)

Thor and Iron Man were still in Iceland with the stone. But it was close to getting very soft, so they were mentally preparing themselves to shut the portal.

“Strange, conjure your strongest shield for the others in a while! Sue and Wanda, join him!” Tony fired an order. “Rest of you, behind them!”

Falcon swooped in and grabbed Bucky. They both landed near the portal to help push back the Frost Giants. Luke and Jessica were tossing some of the Giants to Hulk, who punched them straight in. T’Challa cleverly dodged their assaults and kicked the Giants back.

Antman was also helping by kicking two Frost Giants back when he was reverting back to his normal size. That sent them back. He pushed one of them to, Bucky who helped by punching him using his new adamantium arm. That Frost Giant flew in.

“This is good!” Bucky smiled.

Hulk managed to punch the last of the Frost Giants in, along with Ben. Johnny was helping by stalling them, so that the Frost Giants didn’t walk out of the portal.

“Good work, jolly green!” Ben smiled. He raised his fist to the Hulk.

The Hulk gave him a grin before returning back the fist bump. The force used by him, sent Ben flying towards the trash cans at the side.

“Ben, why?!” Reed threw his hands in the air.

Ben groaned before getting back up. “Why not?” he rolled his eyes before jogging to where the rest of them there were running to; to where Doctor Strange was preparing to conjure his shield.

“Vision and Johnny, we need you,” Thor instructed. “Stand by at the portal.”

Both of them were hovering a few meters above the others.

“The rest of us, behind Wanda, Sue and Doctor Strange now!” Steve ordered. “Natasha, a lullaby, please.”

“Hey big guy, the sun’s getting real low,” Natasha smiled. The Hulk turned to look at her, his stare softening.

“Hop on, Clint,” Reed said. He stretched out his arm all the way up 6 floors, to where Clint was perched on. Clint settled down on the palm.

“This is the weirdest landing I ever had,” he observed. Reed was smiling at him.

“Guys hurry up, they’re coming back out!” Steve was getting worried. He looked up, just in time to catch Iron Man and Thor breeze by above.

“Thor now!” Tony ordered once he saw the coast being clear.

Thor tossed the soft remnants onto the portal and called down lightning. Vision fired his energy beam into the portal, with Johnny shooting fire straight in. Tony fired up his unibeam.

“Boss, armor integrity is weak. I highly do not recommend what you’re doing,” the AI said. And she sounded worried.

“Don’t worry my girl, I know what I’m doing,” Tony smiled.

“Self-sacrificing?” his girl F.R.I.D.A.Y sassed him back.

Thor pointed his hammer at the portal, and the lightning shot through like no one’s business. The other heroes were looking up at the different types of light dancing around them.

The Frost Giants didn’t dare come out of the portal. They ran back in and never turned back, screaming.

The portal was closing with an agonizing pace. The four of them pressed on, not caring about the pain that was emerging. And soon, their efforts paid off.

“John… Johnny…” Tony croaked out. “Go behind the sh… shield.”

Johnny stopped firing. He flew back to where the others were standing.

Doctor Strange nodded at Sue and Wanda. They both conjured their strongest shields, followed by the Doctor himself. Wanda was already falling onto the road and so was Sue. But their sheer determination kept their shields up.

“It’s closing,” Thor said.

And it did. The portal closed with another extremely violent huff of wind.

“Boss, armor integrity…” the AI said, one last time. Tony’s eyes widened.

This time, some parts of the armor ripped right out of Tony’s body. The metal pieces flew back clumsily. Both his gauntlets and his helmet plus faceplate was gone. The armor was intact at his torso and leg areas. Which meant, his arc reactor was still functioning.

Even in the state of having his armor dismantled, Tony tossed Thor to Vision. He managed to catch Thor, who seemed to have gone unconscious. But he couldn’t catch Tony on time. Their fingers passed by one another, just by a few inches, and Vision saw the fear in Tony Stark’s eyes.

Tony thought, this was it. He was not going to make it out alive in this battle. He closed his eyes and just let his body fall. He was enjoying the wind beating past him. He managed to block out all the other noises coming from his earpiece; they were all his teammates calling out his name in panic. He accepted his fate; there was nothing much he could do anyways.

Except there was. He could use his jet boots to stall his fall. When he realized that, he attempted to do it.

But then, Tony felt like he was suspended. Plus it was taking too long, he should have fallen down by now. Moreover, he felt something sticky on both his arms. So he opened his eyes. All around him, it was red. He looked up; even the sky was red. He was suspended in a red bubble.

Wanda had caught him and was holding him up with all her might. Spiderman had also caught him. The others were looking at Tony, who was staring right back at them. She carefully placed him down. Once the redness vanished, Wanda started to pant.

“Thanks Wanda,” Tony smiled at her. “And thanks to you too, Pe- Spidey.”

“Not a problem, Mr. Stark,” Spiderman gave him a salute.

“It’s my duty,” Wanda smiled back at him.

Tony was adjusting himself when he realized Thor was not with the others. “Vision, where is Thor?”

“I placed him right beside Dr. Richards,” he answered.

“He isn’t here,” Reed looked up. “I would have checked on him if he was here.”

“Do you think you have won!?!” a rough voice shouted at them.

Tony turned behind just in time to look at the leader of the Frost Giants and his assistant holding an unconscious Thor hostage. There was still a very tiny piece of that stone he had. He was using that to create a small purple force field around him, his assistant and Thor. But the force field was weak because of the size of the stone.

Thor’s hammer was on the road, outside the force field.

“Just because you have closed the portals I opened, it doesn’t make you a winner,” the leader hissed at Tony.

There is one thing about Tony. He simply hates it when someone takes any of his friends or someone he cares deeply about, hostage. He hates it so much. It is the one thing that makes him very _very_ mad.

“Let Thor go and we’ll talk this out,” Tony went straight to the point. His eyes were turning red in anger and he was glaring at both the Frost Giants.

Even Steve and Spiderman winced at Tony’s tone.

“This is far from over,” the leader growled.

He drew out a very sharp and thick ice weapon and without hesitating, stabbed Thor from the back. Thor woke up with a jolt, but immediately groaned in pain. The leader pushed the ice further in.

All the heroes gasped. Bruce was beginning to turn green. The others were already taking out their weapons and were getting ready to attack.

Something in Tony snapped.

“I hope this works,” he mumbled to himself. He stretched out his palm. “I got to get him out, please work.”

Daredevil suddenly straightened. “I hear electric sparks.” He said.

“What do you mean?” Sam asked him.

“Where are the clouds coming from?” Natasha asked.

The others looked up to see grey clouds gathering around. There was lightning and thunder. To top it off, there was an extremely heavy gust of wind.

There were streaks of lightning hitting Mjolnir now.

Tony was watching that. But he closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side because he felt this sudden energy coursing through him. He suddenly felt more powerful, more alive, and importantly, more angry. He gritted his teeth and snapped his eyes open. His irises were completely blue.

The lightning streaks stopped hitting the hammer.

“Is Thor okay?” Sue asked, concerned.

Thor was alright. In fact he had opened his eyes just in time to witness Mjolnir flying towards Tony. He smiled weakly at that.

“Guys, why is Thor’s hammer flying towards- oh,” Clint paused.

Tony had caught Mjolnir. He immediately stretched it toward the sky, calling lightning. Once he felt like it was powerful enough, Tony threw the hammer towards the force field. The hammer, now filled with energy and speed, pierced right through the field. The weak purple field immediately vanished. The hammer kept going and went right through the leader’s assistant.

Tony called back the hammer. The hammer stopped mid-flight, right in front of a lamppost, and flew back to Tony’s stretched out hand. On its way back, the hammer hit the assistant on the head. His body fell forward onto the road.

“Mother of God,” Clint whispered.

“Sweet Christmas,” Luke said out loud.

The rest of them were looking at Tony with a mixture of utter shock and surprise. Not only was Tony worthy, but he could control the hammer and call lightning, just like Thor. There was also a very light blue aura surrounding Tony. He looked mystical, nearly God-like.

Tony now walked briskly towards the leader, who looked slightly intimidated. Without hesitating, he grabbed the leader’s neck and strangled him. He easily lifted the leader up.

“Damn,” Sam said.

“Tony,” Steve stepped forward. “That’s not how we do things. Put the leader down.”

Tony’s jaw twitched. He didn’t let go of the leader and his grip was crushing the leader’s neck. He was struggling to breathe. He tried kicking Tony, but he couldn’t even reach him.

“Hey Tony, come on man. He’ll face some justice from Asgard. Listen to us, man!” Clint tried.

“I am sure he will catch the wisdom behind your words,” T’Challa assured them. “He is your teammate and friend, after all.”

“Tony…  Stark,” Thor slowly spoke. “It’s alright. I’ll take care of him. Let him go. We need to… take care of our injured ones.”

The Frost Giant was gasping for air now. Tony sighed, before throwing him two full meters away from where he was standing. He turned back and helped Thor up. And Thor couldn’t stop looking at Tony’s blue irises. He got reminded of the younger version of Tony attempting to lift the hammer.

Thor had swung an arm around Tony’s shoulders, while Tony was supporting Thor by placing an arm around his hip. He was still holding onto Mjolnir.

The others who were standing finally got to look at Tony’s eyes. Steve let out a soft gasp while the others raised their eyebrows. They were looking at both the heroes slowly walking towards them.

“I still have this,” the leader sneered. He slowly got up and revealed the last, small piece of stone he still had.

Tony and Thor stopped.

“Vision, take Thor,” Tony said. His tone was so commanding Vision obliged without even questioning.

The other Avengers standing there were looking at Tony under a new light. They knew him as a teammate and friend, but wouldn’t have guessed he had a side like this. Even Peter couldn’t help but gulp.

Tony turned back to look at the leader.

“I swear on your mother’s life, I will destroy you and your friends today,” the leader growled.

Both Bucky’s and Steve’s eyes widened in alarm at that. The others gasped loudly and nearly all of them knew how this was going to end.

“My mother’s life?” Tony raised his voice. There was a heavy gust of wind blowing now. “My mother is dead!” Tony bellowed the last part. That bellow was accompanied by a ground shaking thunder roar.

The Frost Giant started to run towards Tony. He was also activating the stone. Tony started to run too.

He raised Mjolnir towards the sky and called down lightning. The rest of them at the back were watching the scene unfolding in front of them with awe. Doctor Strange knew what was going to happen.

“Oh no,” he muttered. He started to conjure the strongest shield he could. Wanda and Sue followed suit but was stopped by the Doctor himself. “No, if the purple wave hits either one of your shields, you could de-age or get wiped out of existence. I’ll handle this.”

After calling down enough lightning, Tony jumped up. His jet boots powered up, sending him higher. He then started to descend. He aimed directly at the stone, not caring about what it could do to him. He used the powerful Mjolnir and hit the stone with all his might.

As it was tiny, the stone was annihilated, but with devastating effects. Waves of purple shot everywhere. Two buildings on either sides of the street came crashing down. The explosion nearly knocked Doctor Strange’s shield. He kept it up with all his might. Sue, Wanda and the others fell down because of the impact.

For a few seconds, everything was silent. The dust was slowly settling down. Doctor Strange’s knees gave out and he dropped down to rest on the road. The rest of them slowly began to rise up. Ben helped Doctor Strange up once he could stand well.

Steve was wiping the sweat dripping down his forehead when he realized something.

“Tony, where is Tony?” he asked, panic slowly rising in his voice.

“Don’t tell me he’s buried under all that rubble,” Clint said. “That’ll take a long time to find him.”

“He had the hammer with him when he fell. Do you think he flew out of the way?” Danny asked.

"Even worse," Reed started. "What if he got de-aged and is buried underneath!?"

"What if he got wiped out of existence?!" Wanda started to panic.

“I hope we can find him,” Natasha said. She sounded worried.

“Tony, where are you?” Steve called. He tried using the comms. “Tony, come in.”

“Come on lab buddy,” Bruce sighed.

“Mr. Stark!” Spiderman tried. “Come on!”

“I hear something,” Daredevil suddenly spoke up. “I hear a slow heartbeat. It’s very faint.”

“Where?” Reed asked.

Daredevil pointed to the lamppost behind him. The rest of them ran there, forgetting how tired they felt. And Tony was there on the ground, right beside the lamppost, surrounded by debris and dust. He was still clutching onto Mjolnir.

Steve kneeled down beside him. He slowly lifted Tony’s head and placed him on his lap. The rest of them stood around him.

“Hey, hey Tony,” Steve smiled a sad smile. “You’ll be fine. Medics will be here soon, we’ll get you out of this mess, I promise.”

“Steve,” Tony breathed out. “Don’t… make prom… promises you can’t keep.” He motioned for Thor, who kneeled down immediately by his side. “Here is the hammer. It was… nice to hold her. She saved… my life. She’s the reason why… I didn’t de-age or disappear off the face of earth.”

Thor slowly took his hammer away from Tony. He ruffled Tony’s hair. “Thank you.” Thor smiled.

“Not a problem,” Tony croaked.

The blue aura surrounding him slowly disappeared. Even the blue in his irises vanished. Steve found himself staring into Tony’s chocolate brown eyes, which were losing focus as of now. He continued to look at them, realizing how much he loves this man. He just wanted to undo his mistakes and take better care of Tony. He loves him so much.

“Steve,” Tony gave him a smirk, even in this condition. “You’re my dork.”

Steve let out a laugh. He didn’t even know his eyes were tearing. Tony slowly raised his left hand and touched Steve’s cheek. Steve leaned into the touch. He tilted his head and rested it on Tony’s palm. There were tears spilling from his eyes. Tony slowly wiped them, using what was left of his strength.

“Thank you Steve, fo… for praising my kid-self,” he smiled weakly. “Thank you.”

Steve didn’t trust his voice. He nodded his head and smiled at Tony.

“Kid-self didn… didn’t get much praises at that age…” Tony was beginning to whisper now. “He would’ve appr… appreciated your words.”

Tony traced Steve’s cheek with his palm. He slowly closed his eyes and his hand dropped. The others gathered around let out gasps. Steve quickly held onto Tony’s hand before it dropped fully.

“Tony,” Steve called. His eyes widened in panic. “Tony look at me. Open your eyes!!”

"No no no no no," Spiderman kept mumbling that, as if it was a chant. Danny swung an arm around him and pulled him closer. 

“Is he…” Clint started. But he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“No,” Daredevil firmly said. “No, he didn’t. I still can hear his heartbeat. But it’s faint. He needs medical attention soon.”

Reed and Bruce stepped forward. Reed checked for his pulse while Bruce checked his eyes.

“DD’s right,” Bruce confirmed. “Tony is still with us. Anybody called S.H.I.E.L.D for medics?”

“His pulse is too weak. He must be using all his willpower to stay alive,” Reed sighed. “He really needs the medics.”

“They should be here by now,” Natasha affirmed.

At that exact moment, there were sounds of several turbine engines running. Everyone looked up to see a S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier flying slowly, directly above them.

“Is that S.H.I.E.L.D?” Luke asked.

“Yeah it is,” Clint smiled.

“Avengers, Defenders and the Fantastic Four,” Nick Fury’s voice came through their comms. “The medics are coming down pronto. There are some medical facilities here to treat the injured people too. Captain, can you tell me roughly how many people down there need the facilities?”

Steve wiped his tears and looked around him. Everyone were bleeding and looked like a mess. All of them needed rest too. He sighed.

He slowly lifted Tony up. He was carrying him bridal style. He started to walk towards the first few medics who had landed from the helicarrier. The rest of the heroes followed behind him.

“Fury, we all need it,” Steve said with a somber tone.

They kept walking with arms swung around one another's shoulders for support. They looked like a big united but tired team. They kept walking forward, and the sun was slowly rising up behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Tony be completely fine?  
> If you've got feedback you can leave them at the comments below! I'd be more than happy to read and reply. :)


	24. Battle's Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is going back to what they were doing and Tony recovers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys. Sorry for the delay for posting this chapter.  
> I hope you all are enjoying this so far!  
> And sadly, this is ending pretty soon. Thank you for all your support, guys! I appreciate that a lot!  
> Happy reading! :)

After getting their injuries patched up, most of the heroes had temporarily taken shelter at Avengers Tower. Some were seated and others were standing there, waiting to get one last debrief from anyone of authority, before parting ways.

Tony was still in the medical unit in the helicarrier. His only serious injury was a minor concussion and he had collapsed because of exhaustion. The rest were scratches, cuts and bruises. Mjolnir had really saved him there.

Thor and Clint remained there to send updates to the team about Tony’s condition. Steve was supposed to remain there too but he had been trying to enter Tony’s room and asked doctors for updates every two minutes. Natasha had _kindly_ requested him to follow her back to the Tower.

For now, Tony was recovering well. Doctors said he could be waking up after a few hours if everything goes well.

“Thanks for allowing us here, Colonel,” Steve smiled. “Most of them will leave after a small debrief.”

“Not a problem,” Rhodey shrugged.

They were seated on the couch, with the others moving around them.

Steve was looking around him, at the crowd mingling with each other, when he spotted Spiderman looking out of the window. He was alone. Steve decided to check on him.

“You okay?” he asked once he stood beside Spidey.

“Oh Cap,” Spidey turned to him after a few seconds. “I’m uh, okay. How about you?”

“I guess I’m fine. But I can kinda sense you’re not.”

Spiderman didn’t say anything for a while. He was just looking out at the night skies slowly turning brighter. Steve thought he wasn’t going to say anything and was about to leave.

“He was like a father figure,” Spiderman suddenly spoke up. “He was, there for me and really, talked to me and gave me tech upgrades. It’s like a special bond I had with him.”

It didn’t take long for Steve to realize who he was talking about. “Seemed like he made an impact in your life.” Steve went closer to him.

“Yeah,” Spidey said softly. “And I can kinda remember what he did and said when I got hit by that purple thing. I don’t think I can forget them.” His voice cracked at the end.

Steve nodded his head. They all had heard the exchange Tony and Spidey had over the comms.

“You’ll be alright?” Steve asked.

“I guess. I mean, he’s not that badly injured is he?”

“Nah, he’ll be up after a few hours.”

“Yeah. I’ll visit him tomorrow I guess,” Spidey sighed. “Oh my God!”

Steve straightened. “What is it?”

“I didn’t go back home for the night and Aunt May’s gonna be worried!” Spidey started to panic. “Oh my, what do I do?”

“Hey don’t panic,” Steve gave him an amused look. “Okay, do you have a plan?”

Spidey scratched his head. “I think so… But I’ll need your help.”

Steve smiled. “Sure, just tell me what it is.”

While Spidey began telling Steve about his plan, Rhodey had received a video call from the one person he didn’t really feel like speaking to. He opened up the tablet and decided to make it quick. The person’s face was displayed in the screen.

“General Ross,” Rhodey greeted curtly. “How can I help you?”

“Help me?!” he immediately roared.

He was so loud the buzz of the people chatting around the penthouse died down quickly. They all turned to look at Rhodey. He reluctantly looked up and tried to smile. But it came out as a grimace instead. He slowly started to stand up.

He went down the hall, away from the people gathered there.

“General,” he sighed. “I don’t really think now’s the time-”

“Oh no you and that kook of your friend don’t just get to cut me off all the damn time!”

“Have some respect, General,” Rhodey gritted his teeth. “What do you want?”

“I heard Rogers and his team of vigilantes were back. They’re not allowed back.”

Rhodey sighed in absolute frustration. “General, Tony and I have spoken about this to you several times. The Avengers who went into hiding are allowed back if there are big threats, like the one they just faced.”

“And do you think I’m gonna just stand there and welcome them back to the States?” General Ross asked roughly. “They didn’t sign the Accords and-”

“Well Tony and I have been saying one thing to you ever since we started this talk about what we’re gonna do in this situation, and we’re sticking with what we said. They’re here to help us. And they can stay as long as they want in the Tower and the Accords are open to them,” Rhodey stated as a matter-of-factly. “It’s their decision. You actually don’t have any reason to start bashing anyone up _especially_ after a time like this.”

General Ross let out a cold laugh. “You’re lucky Tony is all banged up and isn’t here. I would have liked to have had several words with him and they all aren’t pleasant!”

Rhodey huffed. “Well, you’re lucky he isn’t here. Or he would have shut you up for good.”

General Ross cleared his throat. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Rhodey didn’t say anything. He just disconnected and ended the video call, to show him what he had meant.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y,” Rhodey sighed. “If he calls back again just don’t notify, please.”

“With pleasure,” she replied. Rhodey could hear the smile in her voice.

“Everything alright?” Sam asked him. He placed a hand on his shoulder.

Rhodey turned back and smiled. “Yeah. Tony and I can deal with him, with General Ross. No worries Sam.”

They slowly walked back to the main area, where Steve was preparing to give a small debrief.

“Everyone,” he started. “Thank you for coming down to help us. I know most of you had something else to do and fighting for an entire night, it’s not an easy feat. So really, thank you. I wish you all speedy recovery from your injuries.”

There were many small smiles around the penthouse.

“So I just, would like to say, I hope our paths cross again. Keep working on your strengths and for now, keep avenging or defending!” Steve raised up his fist, and the rest of them did the same thing too, with a little cheer.

Rhodey smiled and sat down on the couch, with Sam’s help.

“Well, I got to go,” Jessica smiled at Natasha. “My friend wanted me to meet her for breakfast.”

“Trish?” Luke asked while taking a sip of water.

“Yeah,” Jessica nodded. “Want to join?”

“I don’t mind. I’m really hungry,” Luke smiled. “What about you two?”

“I think I’ll help with the cleaning up first,” Danny sighed.

“I agree with Dan,” Matthew spoke up. “We’ll meet again later I guess.”

“We’ll meet after we had breakfast,” Luke said. “It was great fighting alongside the Avengers.”

“Pleasure was ours, Defenders.” Natasha smiled. She walked them to the elevator.

Behind her, the Fantastic Four and Doctor Strange were ready to leave too.

“We brought out Fantasticar so no problems,” Reed smiled at Bruce. “And I’ll be visiting Tony once he comes out of the medical unit.”

“And I’ll go back to 177 Bleecker Street first for the cleaning up. Gosh it’s terrible there. And I’ll visit Tony in the medical unit once he gets up.” Doctor Strange adjusted his Cloak.

“Sure, we’ll keep in touch.” Bruce and Reed exchanged a handshake first, followed by Bruce and Strange. “I’ll walk with you, come on.”

The lot of them started to walk to the elevator, where Natasha was.

“See you guys soon,” she smiled at the 7 of them standing in the elevator together. Ben had taken the stairs down, with Johnny accompanying him. The doors shut, leaving Bruce and Natasha standing there.

Natasha sighed before turning to Bruce. “So, you alright?”

Bruce shrugged. “I am. Just worried about Tony but other than that, I’m okay.”

“We’re all always worried about Tony,” Natasha let out a little laugh.

“Actually thinking about it, he’s been through a lot worse. I’m sure he’ll recover.”

Natasha smiled at Bruce. They were just standing there, in front of the elevator doors, not knowing what move to make next. Bruce was wringing his hands together, before he stretched out an arm. He placed it on Natasha’s shoulder and pulled her closer.

“We should check on the others,” she said softly.

Both of them started to walk back to where the others were gathered.

“You done?” Steve asked.

“Uh, no I need a second, the jeans zipper is not cooperating,” Spidey replied from the washroom.

Steve let out a laugh and leaned back on the wall beside the washroom door. He was waiting for Spiderman to come out, and to be dressed in civvies and look clean, according to the plan. Yes, Spidey had brought civvies with him in case of a time like this.

After a few more seconds, the door opened.

Peter stepped out of the washroom, squeezing one of his bag’s straps way harder than he should be.

“So uh, hi Cap. I’m Peter,” he greeted. He didn’t give Steve any eye contact.

“Nice to meet you,” Steve gave his back a pat. “Will you be okay, to walk past the others and to the elevator?”

Peter gulped. He reluctantly nodded his head because he really didn’t have any other choice.

“Let’s go.” Steve immediately swung an arm around Peter. “Is your aunt here?”

“Well, she texted me asking for the level. So I guess she is here.”

Both of them quickly breezed by the penthouse and made their way to the elevator. Not many of them gathered there saw this. But only Natasha did and it took her less than ten seconds to figure out who the boy was and what he and Steve were up to.

“Thanks for the help, Spidey,” Steve smiled. “And don’t be too nervous.”

At the same time, the elevator doors opened. A very flustered looking Aunt May stepped out of it.

“Peter, where were you all night? I was panicking! I called Ned and he said you weren’t with him either!” she pulled him for a very tight hug.

“Uh I was coming back home to visit you. But there was a big fight which involved superheroes and I got trapped…” he easily lied, and cringed because Captain America was right beside him.

“But that happened at 177 Bleecker street,” Aunt May frowned. “What were you doing there?”

Peter started to look around him, thinking for a solid answer. “I was… you know there is this Vietnamese restaurant there… Yeah it’s not that expensive and I went there for dinner.” He smiled.

“You went to a restaurant all by yourself?” she raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah it’s unbelievable right? But I did! I was hungry and I thought of trying something new,” he let out a nervous laugh. “Oh and the Avengers took me in for the night, by the way. So, yeah I was in safe hands. And yeah, this is Steve, Captain America.”

“Wow. Pleased to meet you,” she stretched out her hand. Peter took this opportunity to press the elevator’s button. He was squeezing his Spiderman suit into his bag, to make sure it doesn't just pop out suddenly. “So, you’re from?”

“Brooklyn,” he replied, after a firm handshake.

“Brooklyn?” she asked. “Steve from Brooklyn?”

Steve obviously didn’t catch the meaning behind her question but Peter sure did. His eyes widened in alarm and he immediately turned to look at them. “No… no no,” Peter said. “That’s another Steve from Brooklyn who caused the injuries! This is… this is _Captain America_.”

“Right,” Aunt May laughed. “Oh Captain, some guy called Steve from Brooklyn, your area, bashed my boy up just three and a half months ago! If you could… could you… please?”

Steve did the math in his head. Three and a half months ago, there was a fight between his and Tony’s team in Leipzig Airport. He realized who this _Steve from Brooklyn_ guy was. “Sure ma’am. I’ll try to find him and give him uh… a firm lecture.” He turned to look at Peter, giving him the are-you-serious look.

Peter grinned sheepishly at him. He went closer to speak. “I’m so sorry.”

“Not a problem,” Steve assured him. “It looks like I need to lecture myself.”

Peter laughed.

The elevator had already arrived. Both of them got into it.

“I’ll see you soon. And also Mr. Stark,” Peter said. Steve nodded his head at him.

“Yeah, where is he?” Aunt May asked and the elevator doors shut, cutting out the rest of the conversation.

Steve turned back to walk to the penthouse. He recalled the entire conversation that had just taken place and started to laugh.

…

It was a very uneasy sleep. But it’s not like Steve had never experienced that before. He had had nightmares and many sleepless nights. So this, was nothing out of the ordinary.

What was out of the ordinary was him feeling a soft hand brushing back his hair. The feeling was good and he wanted to drift back into sleep. But he realized someone had entered his room and snapped out of it. He woke up and squinted his eyes at the light coming from the hallway.

It was Natasha, seated by his bedside and brushing back his hair.

“Nat?” he croaked. “What are you doing here?”

After realizing the quiet moment was gone, she removed her hand from his head, but didn’t stand up. “I got a call from Clint. Tony woke up just a few minutes ago.”

Steve sat up further. He let out a yawn.

“He asked for you.”

Steve stopped moving. Tony had asked for him. Right after he had woken up.

“So I came here to tell you that.” Natasha stood up. “Get ready. We’re all going to the medical unit now.”

He turned to the window, taking in the view of the skyline. “What’s the time, Nat?”

“It’s four in the morning,” she replied. Her phone vibrated and she answered it. “Yeah Clint? Yes we’re coming now tell Fury to get ready.” She slowly walked out of his room.

Steve trudged to his cupboard and tossed some random clothes out. He didn’t realize how long he had slept in his room. In fact, all he remembered was crashing onto his bed at 8 last night, after walking down the hallway and reminiscing. He didn’t bother removing his clothes.

Steve walked to the window and looked out at the lights spread out in front of him. Tony had asked for him right after waking up. _Steve_ was the first thought he had.

His eyes welled up slightly, because that was enough for Steve, for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think Tony wants to tell Steve?  
> If you've got feedback you can leave a comment! I'd be more than happy to read and reply! :)


	25. Going Back to the Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony wakes up from his slumber and is ready to go back to the Tower, where many people and even things, are waiting for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! How are you guys today?  
> Sorry for the delay, again.   
> Thank you for all your support so far, guys!   
> Happy reading! :)

The hallway in the helicarrier which led to Tony’s room, was absolutely quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the footsteps of Steve, Bruce and Natasha.

They turned left and entered the room in the medical unit. Thor and Clint were seated on the visitors’ chairs. Clint stood up once he saw the others enter.

“He went back to sleep,” Clint yawned. “He was awake for two full minutes before knocking back out. He asked for you, Steve.”

“I know,” Steve muttered. He went to the side of the bed.

Tony looked so peaceful when asleep. His chest was rising and falling at a steady pace, and he looked beautiful. Steve brushed back his hair, sighing softly.

“The doctor says he’s pretty much ready to go back home,” Clint said. “But they won’t release him till early afternoon, some safety thing was the reason they gave. And oh, he might have to use a wheelchair.”

“Why?” Bruce asked.

“He apparently had sprained both his ankles,” Clint grimaced. “I wonder how he landed after destroying the stone.”

“Knowing Tony, I don’t think he’s gonna sit on the wheelchair for long.” Natasha shook her head.

“When will he wake up?” Steve asked them.

“In a few hours,” Thor assured him with a smile. He stood up from his chair. “I would like to take a break. Perhaps, walk around or get food. I have been sitting here with Clint for a very long time.”

“Now that’s a good idea,” Clint smiled. “I’m getting coffee. Anything for you guys?”

The others shook their heads.

“Alright, let’s go.” Clint motioned for Thor to follow him out.

“Steve,” Natasha sighed. “Bruce and I will be seated outside, if you need anything.” He nodded his head.

The door slowly shut, leaving Steve and Tony alone. Steve grabbed one of the visitors’ chairs and pulled it closer to the bed. He sat down and sighed again.

He took Tony’s hand, which was hooked up to an IV. He enclosed it with his own two palms, spreading the warmth. Tony’s index finger, which was connected to the pulse oximeter, twitched slightly. Steve bent down further, and rested his elbows on the mattress.

“You know what, partner?” Steve spoke. “I just want to make things right. Whatever happened, I’d like to put that behind me, and hold your hand forever. Oh Tony…” Steve sighed.

He stayed awake for the next few minutes, looking out for Tony and for signs of him waking up. 

…

Tony’s eyes slowly fluttered open. The light was too bright for his sensitive eyes. So he shut it back immediately, but opened them again. His frown deepened. He had no recollection or whatsoever of getting to wherever he was right now. So he tried to analyze his surroundings.

He heard the steady beeps from the heart monitors beside him. The room he was in was too bright. The bed he was placed on was too uncomfortable. The smell of coffee was pretty much the first thing that had hit him; he could practically taste it. Also, he was not alone.

Tony slowly moved up and saw Steve asleep right beside him, in a very uncomfortable position. He was seated on a chair but was leaning onto the bed, holding onto Tony’s hand. Behind Steve, there was a rollaway bed, shared by Thor and Clint. The bed was under heavy strain at Thor’s side. But both of them looked peaceful while asleep. On his left, there was another rollaway bed, which was occupied by both Bruce and Natasha. They were sleeping peacefully.

Tony couldn’t help but smile. After so long did he see his other teammates gathered together and looking peaceful. He thought of sleeping back again, to wake up after everyone did. So he relaxed, taking in the absolute silence settling in the room, occasionally disrupted by Thor’s soft snores.

He sighed. That was when he remembered something. The night before, he had woken up in pain and had asked for Steve. He had wanted to see him and maybe, talk to him. But before anything could happen, he had fallen back asleep.

Tony slowly turned to look at Steve. He couldn’t help but also feel the warmth of his hands, which were protectively enveloped around Tony’s own hand. But the moment didn’t last long.

Tony’s dry throat had caused him to cough, softly at first, but gradually louder. And then the movements started in the room. Bruce was the first to get up.

“I got you,” he said, still half asleep. He rolled out of bed and landed on the floor. He scrambled back up to get Tony a cup of water, still in his disoriented state.

“Tony,” Steve mumbled. He started to pat Tony’s head. “We got you.”

Natasha slowly got out of bed. She walked to Tony's side, to help him calm down.

“Here, drink this,” Bruce said. Natasha pressed a button and the bed moved up, slightly, sending Tony to a sitting position. Bruce carefully placed the straw in his mouth and Tony started to drink.

Thor had sat upright within seconds while Clint was taking his time. The bed couldn’t take it. It tipped to the left, sending Thor falling down and Clint rolling towards the floor. The bed ended up landing on Clint.

“My back…” he groaned.

Tony had seen this. He immediately spat out the drink violently, spilling it on his blanket and some on Bruce’s hands. He started to laugh, and pointed at the mess. Steve turned behind to find a pouting Thor and a Clint struggling to push the bed away. It took only a few more seconds and the four of them were laughing together. It wasn’t long before Thor joined in and Clint started to chuckle.

“Yeah yeah guys. Laugh at my misery,” Clint managed to get up in one piece. “The bed _had_ to land on me. Especially after the battle!”

“I could offer a massage, as a truce?” Thor asked innocently.

That sent Tony wheezing away.

“Oh Thor,” Clint smiled. “That’s sweet of you but my bones are just fine, thank you.” He gave Thor’s shoulder a pat.

“You alright?” Steve asked Tony.

“I’m okay,” he replied. He smiled at Steve.

“I was worried,” Steve sighed. “But I’m so glad it’s nothing serious. How are you?”

Tony chuckled. “You can’t ask me the same question twice, Steve.”

“Oh,” Steve said softly. He began to go closer to Tony’s face. “I actually can.”

Natasha and Bruce had already left the bed side, leaving Steve there. Steve was going closer to Tony, not sure about his own actions. Tony was thinking if this was real, and moved forward too. He wasn’t sure what he was doing, either. And it wasn’t even him who initiated the move. So they went closer to each other, to see what each of them were going to do.

The room door opened and Bruce, Natasha, Thor and Clint exclaimed in unison, “Good morning doctor!!”

Steve stopped abruptly, causing his nose to bump on Tony’s. He squeezed his eyes shut before moving away. Tony immediately turned away to his blanket.

“Wow, so enthusiastic,” the doctor laughed.

“Um, hi,” Steve managed. “I was just… you know… checking Tony’s face. It’s alright… I guess.” He turned beet red when he heard Clint’s groan and Natasha’s laughter when they were walking to the door.

“Good to know, just give Tony and I a minute, please? Thank you,” she smiled at him. Steve scurried out of the room. “So, how are you today?”

“I’m okay I guess,” Tony replied. “It’s just that the room is too bright, especially the light coming from that little window. Plus, why’s everything so white outside?”

“Well,” the doctor started. She checked the heart monitors and the IV drip. And she wrote something down on her notepad. “You’re in the S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier, which is currently flying up high above the States. So, I guess, it’s white outside because of the clouds.”

Tony’s eyebrows shot up. He wasn’t even aware of being in the helicarrier. He thought he was in some hospital, on the ground.

Outside the room, Natasha was wiping away her tears of laughter.

“Rogers!” she wheezed. “You’ve gotta do… do better than say, _oh I was checking his face_.” She mimicked him. The others were slowly recovering from crying out of laughing.

“Well, it just came out of my mouth at that instant!” Steve tried to manage.

“You can do better than this,” Clint gave him a pat on his back and tried to say it with a straight face. But he couldn’t. Each of them started to laugh again and Steve game them a light-hearted scowl.

And time started to fly by.

Soon after lunch, Tony was ready to go back to the Tower. He was sitting on the edge of his bed. Clint and Natasha were outside his room while Bruce and Thor had already left for the Tower. Steve was making sure none of them had left anything in the room.

Tony placed one foot down and added some weight. The pain shot up from his ankle and he quickly withdrew. “Yikes! It’s so bad. And I didn’t even know I had sprained both of them!”

“Tony, be a good boy and wait for your wheelchair,” Steve said with a firm tone.

“Oh, so I’ve been a bad boy all along?” he smirked at Steve, who rolled his eyes. “You do know that I had called for you, right?”

Steve nodded his head. “Yeah, I do. And if I may ask, why?”

Tony looked away. “I guess I just wanted to you know… tell you that I guess we can start again…? So many things have happened between us and I realize, there are threats out there that’ll require us to be united. Can we you know… start again?”

Steve was looking right at Tony, taking in his words. “I agree with you. Now that we’re back, I guess we ought to stay united.” Steve sighed. “And… I’m sorry Tony.”

Tony frowned. “Why are you apologizing again?”

“What do you mean by _again_?”

“I remember vaguely, you apologized to me in Boston.”

That was when it had hit Steve, that Tony had heard the apology he had given to him when he was de-aged. “You actually can recall that? You were a baby!”

Tony raised an eyebrow before laughing. “I can actually. There are a lot of weird things I recall from Boston. I even can remember, a hazy memory of Wanda and I doing a puzzle and… someone slapped me right? Was it you?”

Steve threw him an incredulous look. “Why would I slap a two-year-old kid?! And if you must know, it was one of the Frost Giants.”

“Damn,” Tony said. “I survived a slap from one of them.”

“We were lucky Doctor Strange came in time. He was the one who checked your cheek after the slap. His red Cloak was attracted to you and Clint, when you both were de-aged.”

“Cloak? Mr. Magic’s Cloak…” Tony did some wild gestures. Steve chuckled and nodded his head.

He walked and sat beside Tony. He held Tony’s right hand. “We can start over.” He went even more closer and placed his forehead on Tony’s. They both closed their eyes, feeling each other’s warmth.

“Have I entered at the wrong time?” All of a sudden, Vision’s voice was heard.

Both Steve’s and Tony’s eyes snapped open. They quickly moved away from each other, wondering why they hadn’t heard the door open, when they realized Vision had actually walked through the wall.

“So uh,” Tony rubbed his neck. “How long have you been here?”

“Not long, I had just entered.”

The room door opened, and Wanda entered while pushing in a wheelchair. She was panting.

“Vis!” she started. “It’s not fair! You were supposed to enter from the door but you walked through the wall! You didn’t win this time. That’s not a win!”

“I’m afraid, I did. I used my capabilities, which are my strengths and also at times weaknesses, to win the race between us,” Vision explained, causing Wanda to raise an eyebrow at him.

“You two ran down the hallway?” Steve asked with an amused expression.

“Yes we did,” Wanda placed the wheelchair beside Tony. “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” Tony said softly.

“Everything is prepared in the Tower for your arrival, Mr. Stark,” Vision spoke up. “There are several guests already seated at the penthouse as we speak. One of them is a kid, Peter Parker, who said he has something to give you. Moreover, there are several things waiting for you there.”

“Peter Parker?” Tony asked in disbelief. “Wow, he actually came as Peter.”

“We’re gonna move you to the wheelchair,” Steve said. He began helping Tony up to his feet. But when Tony cried in pain, he helped him sit back down on the bed again. “You know what, I’m gonna do what I’m good at.”

Tony got his answer before he could ask what it was. Steve hoisted him up, bridal style, and placed him on the wheelchair.

“You know, it’s just ankle sprains. I can walk soon!” Tony huffed.

“Try to get out of the wheelchair and see what I’ll do to you.” Steve deadpanned.

“You know, I still don’t know why there are so many people gathered to visit me,” Tony smiled.

“If I may add,” Vision said. “Over half of them are there because they genuinely care about you.”

“That makes sense,” Tony mumbled. “Oh and Jar… Vision, if you catch me staring at you, it’s because the jacket you’re wearing and your voice reminds me someone I really cared about.”

Vision’s expression softened. He held the door for the three of them to leave.

“You know,” Tony turned back to face Steve, who was pushing the wheelchair out. “I really want to know what Parker has for me. He’s this brilliant kid!”

They all went down the hallway, with Vision and Wanda holding hands, wondering the same thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think Peter has for Tony?  
> If you've got feedback, you can leave a comment below. I'd be more than happy to read and reply! :)


	26. The Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony comes back to the Tower to find people waiting to see him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! How are you all?  
> I was supposed to update on Friday, but I was doing this horrible part time work for two days, which nearly killed me.  
> I'm so sorry for the delay.  
> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Thank you for all your support so far!  
> **Do take note there'll be a bit of a nightmare sequence and Tony's PTSD here.**  
> Happy reading everyone! :)

There were some flashes of images Tony was looking at. The first was the explosion in the wormhole, during the Battle of New York, which was coming towards him. The second was of him firing repulsor blasts at the Chitauri army which was coming out of the portal. The third was more of a voice warning him about his armor integrity. It was his girl F.R.I.D.A.Y. She was calling out his name, sounding very frightened.

The fourth was of him looking directly into the portal where the Frost Giants were and getting dragged into it. He was screaming at his AI to do something. His other teammates were shouting his name. Tony had nothing to grab onto. To top it off, he didn't have any control over his armor. He just flew into the portal, which suddenly became absolutely dark.

Tony used the light from his gauntlet to navigate his path. He tripped on something, but continued walking. He then stopped in front of a stair like area. He shone the light on it and was beyond aghast to find Steve’s lifeless body. He couldn’t breathe properly when he saw Steve and his broken shield. He reluctantly moved the light upwards and saw the rest of his teammates, dead.

“-Ony!” Steve called. “Wake up, you’re having a nightmare! Tony!”

Tony jerked awake. He was panting and was holding onto the car seat. He was squeezing the leather seat, leaving marks on it. His face felt hot, even though it was coated with sweat.

“Boss, you alright?” Happy turned behind and asked. He looked very concerned.

“Yeah,” Tony tried to calm himself down. “Yeah, just… just take us to the Tower.”

“I’m parked at the Tower’s garage,” Happy said.

“Are you alright?” Steve asked in a quiet voice.

“Yeah Steve,” Tony tried to smile. “I guess, I’m alright.”

“It seemed bad,” Wanda sounded quieter than Steve. She was seated beside Happy, at the front.

Tony shook his head. He was still trying to catch his breath.

“Were you that traumatized?” she asked. “By the… you know.”

Tony slowly turned to look at her. “You felt it, didn’t you?”

She nodded her head. “I’m sorry.”

Tony didn’t reply to that. He was still trying to get a hold of himself.

“Tony, will you be alright to face the others up there?” Steve asked. He placed his hand on Tony’s still trembling shoulder.

“Have you met me?” he let out a laugh. “I called for a press conference right after getting out of Afghanistan. Steve, I can face the familiar faces after a nightmare.”

“It was pretty bad,” Steve said.

“Oh stop it, mother hen,” Tony shrugged. He was already opening the car door.

“Don’t you dare!” Steve jumped up. “I’m getting the wheelchair. Wanda, come on out.”

Both of them helped Tony sit on the wheelchair. They walked him to the elevator, with Happy behind them.

They waited in silence as the elevator ascended towards the penthouse. Steve’s hand was on Tony’s shoulder, squeezing it every once in a while, to assure him that everything was fine. Soon, the elevator door opened. Steve pushed the wheelchair out. They could hear several voices speaking at once as they neared the penthouse. 

Once they entered, several figures stood up.

“Look who’s back!” Clint smiled.

"Hey Happy," Natasha greeted him. Happy nodded his head at her.

Tony was grinning at the people gathered. They were Doctor Strange, T’Challa, Reed and Sue, Danny and Luke, Peter and the rest of the Avengers. They were there with bouquets and pillows with the phrase _Get Well Soon_ etched on them.

“Wow good to see you all,” Tony let out a laugh.

“Mr. Stark!” Peter said. He ran to where Tony was and stopped abruptly in front of the wheelchair. “How uh… how are you?”

“I’m okay,” Tony looked up at him with an amused look.

“This is for you,” Peter stretched out a bouquet. “It’s on behalf of my aunt too.” When Tony hesitated to take it, Peter placed it on his lap.

“From your unusually attractive Aunt huh,” Tony was examining the bouquet. Tony looked up to find the others raising an eyebrow at him. Steve cleared his throat to show is disapproval.

“How do you know him, Tony?” Rhodey asked, nodding towards Peter.

“Uh Mr. Stark kindly-“

“He was uh one of the recipients of the September Foundation Grant,” Tony said loudly. “A special recipient.”

“Yeah yeah actually,” Peter agreed and let out a nervous laugh.

Rhodey nodded his head, but it was clear he wasn’t buying it.

“Actually, I uh, I got to go. Got homework and things to study for,” Peter smiled.

He bent down to give Tony a hug. He wrapped his arms around a surprised Tony, squeezing him slightly. “Mr. Stark, thank you so much, for everything you’ve said and done for me.” Peter whispered. Tony was reluctant at first, but hugged him. He gave Peter’s back a couple of pats.

Both of them pulled away after a while.

“Goodbye Mr. Stark, and everyone,” Peter grinned before skipping down the hallway to the elevator.

Clint wanted to make a comment about what he saw. But he didn’t, because of how Tony’s face was. He was smiling a very genuine smile, and was also trying not to look like he was going to cry. Clint realized, that this Peter guy must have tugged at Tony’s heartstrings.

T’Challa stepped forward next and placed his bouquet on the coffee table. “I hope we cross paths again.” Both he and Tony shook hands.

“Me too, your highness,” Tony said.

“The pillows and flowers are for you,” Reed smiled. “I know they aren’t as fancy as math equations but hey, we hope you like them.”

Tony let out a laugh at what Reed said.

“We hope we can work more with the Avengers,” Sue smiled.

“I’m sure we will,” Steve nodded his head.

“This bouquet, we’re giving it to you on behalf of the Defenders,” Luke said. He stretched out the bouquet to Tony.

“You know, I can’t… can’t…” Tony tried telling him that he didn’t like to be handed things. He was gesturing wildly as his words were stuck inside him. Luke couldn’t understand but Danny somehow did.

He snatched the bouquet from Luke. “I get it, we’ll place it here.” When Luke threw him an incredulous look, he said, “What?! I just did what I felt right.”

“I feel like pushing you down might be the right thing to do. May I do that, Mr. Rand?” Luke retorted. Danny tried not to roll his eyes and gave Luke’s shoulder a pat.

Tony sighed too, feeling relieved. He turned to his left and saw another figure standing close by. “Ah, Mr. Magic.” He smiled.

Doctor Strange rolled his eyes. “I couldn’t visit you in the medical unit because of the cleaning up at my place. Hence, I showed up here. I’m sure you’ll be fine. There’s flowers at the side for you.”

“Thanks for the faith,” Tony smirked at him. 

Doctor Strange narrowed his eyes but had a little smile on his face. At the same time, his cloak rose up to where Tony was seated. He took it and gave it a few pats. The cloak gently caressed Tony's cheek, where the Frost Giant had slapped when he was de-aged. That was the final straw for Tony. His eyes watered, and he hugged the cloak, forgetting it was still connected to someone. 

Doctor Strange's face softened at that and Steve ruffled Tony's hair.

…

All the visitors, except for T’Challa, had left the Tower an hour ago. The others were just walking around the penthouse in groups, and were talking to one another.

Tony and Rhodey were seated on the couch where Rhodey was sharing with his best friend about the condition of his legs. Sam was seated beside Rhodey, listening to him. Steve was standing behind the couch with Scott, chatting with him.

“But I have one question, though,” Scott said. “Why did the Frost Giants attack at a very odd timing? Like, night. Why?”

Thor heard the question from where he was standing. He was chatting with Bruce and Natasha by the window side. “The Frost Giants can survive well in colder conditions. Night time in New York is one of the coldest periods. Hence they chose to attack then.”

“Makes sense,” Scott said.

“But do you think there was someone else who could have… instigated the leader to make him get the stones?” Bruce asked.

“I have a feeling I know who may have instigated him. I’d have to go back to Asgard if I need answers.” Thor sighed. “I can sense bigger threats coming our way. We need to be more prepared.”

“What do you mean by bigger threats?” Natasha turned to Thor and asked.

Just then, the tablet in front of Tony lit up.

“Boss, it’s the General,” F.R.I.D.A.Y said.

“Put him through,” Tony said.

After a click, the General started to speak. The volume was loud. “So, I heard you came back from the medical in one piece? Whatever. Your friends are still here and they’re still not authori-”

Tony rolled his eyes. He also knew the others were watching him and listening to the conversation. So he did the one thing he liked doing. Especially to this man. “Please hold.”

“They can’t- Tony no-”

F.R.I.D.A.Y was more than happy to cut the call a few seconds later. The entire penthouse went silent. And as time passed by, it was getting uncomfortable.

“We’re still fugitives,” Steve said, breaking the silence.

“Yeah,” Sam agreed.

“You know, the Accords are still there. But it depends on you guys,” Rhodey shrugged. “Tony and I have been talking to Ross. But there’s only so much we can do.”

“I mean, he can’t just come here and arrest you guys,” Tony tried assuring them. “But he’ll make attempts.”

“But we need to be united,” Thor spoke up. “We need each other to face bigger threats that may come our way.”

Natasha and Bruce looked at each other.

“So, we still go back to hiding?” Bucky asked. He was standing with Wanda and Vision near the couch.

“We might,” Steve said.

“No worries,” T’Challa assured them.

“Looks like it’ll take another big issue for us to gather back here again,” Wanda sighed.

“Not to worry,” Vision held her hand. “We’ll be more united then.” Wanda was looking into his eyes. She smiled a sad smile and gave his hand a squeeze.

Bucky slowly walked away from them. He sat on the couch, right beside Sam.

“Alright, I’m gonna examine some stuff,” Tony said. He took the tablet and started swiping around the screens.

“I’ll most probably want to look at my daughter one last time, if we’re going to go back to hiding,” Scott said.

“No worries,” Steve gave his shoulder a pat.

“Uh, F.R.I.D.A.Y,” Tony frowned at the tablet. “Why were the sprinklers in the kitchen on four days ago?”

Both Rhodey and Sam tensed.

“Boss, I’m not allowed to share that information with you,” she replied with a hint of amusement in her tone.

Tony looked up. “What do you mean? I created you and that means you can share with me anything, especially something like a fire incident.”

“You know, it’s… it’s okay if she doesn’t share you know. An AI needs her freedom too,” Sam said. He looked very nervous.

“I agree.” Rhodey was _trying_ not to look nervous.

Tony narrowed his eyes at them. “F.R.I.D.A.Y, show me the camera footage of the kitchen that day.”

“Of course,” she said.

“Hey we had a deal!” Sam shouted at the ceiling.

“Oops, but it looks like you only told me not to tell Tony about the incident. You didn’t tell me not to play the camera footage to him,” Tony’s girl sassed Sam.

“In that case, don’t play the footage!” Sam quickly said.

But it was too late. The footage was already being played on the big holographic screen, situated in front of the couch. Everyone’s attention was on it.

In the footage, both Rhodey and Sam were trying to cook something. They were examining the pan, as if doing a science experiment. Rhodey was cranking up the heat when the pan suddenly caught fire. Sam and Rhodey screamed in high pitch voices, like girls, and Sam pulled Rhodey to the side. The fire shot up all the way to the ceiling, which prompted the AI to activate the sprinklers. Vision had also entered the kitchen. There was panic written all over his Android features.

“I got this!” Sam shouted. He ran to the stove and turned the heat down. He threw the pan onto the sink and the flames slowly died down.

“Oh man,” Rhodey was panting. He was leaning against the dining table.

“We’re not telling anyone about this. I don’t want Steve to hear about me nearly setting a kitchen on fire,” Sam said. “You hear this F.R.I.D.A.Y? No one should hear about this, don’t tell anyone.”

“Especially Tony,” Rhodey turned to look up at the ceiling.

“I won’t,” the AI said.

They both turned to look at Vision. “I will not say anything unless I am absolutely forced to.”

Tony was guffawing at what he saw and heard. The others were laughing heartily at that, too.

“Oh God,” Tony wiped his tears. “My girl, rewind… rewind to the part where they both screamed!”

The video went back and they all heard the girly screams coming from Rhodey and Sam, again.

That sent Tony howling with laughter. Steve and the others were doubled up with laughter. Even Thor was chortling at that. For a moment, they all had forgotten their troubles and were just chuckling and giggling.

Sam and Rhodey weren’t laughing. They were embarrassed and didn’t even want to make eye contact with anyone. They wanted the moment to end. Steve gave Sam’s back a pat with a straight face, before losing it again.

“Poor Vision,” Bucky chuckled.

It took all of them a total of 6 minutes to calm down.

Tony turned to look at Rhodey. They had a solid eye contact for two whole seconds before Tony snorted. He leaned back onto the couch and started to laugh again. He made no noise and was just clapping his hands.

“Point taken,” Rhodey rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“I can’t… can’t…” Tony tried to catch his breath. “I can’t believe both of you tried to swear my AI into silence.”

“Well it kinda worked,” Sam mumbled.

“Sorry to break this extremely humorous moment but, do we have a plan?” Clint asked.

“The hideout?” Steve asked, wiping the tears from his eyes.

“We can stay here. But not for long, I guess. Then some of us may have to go back to Wakanda,” Natasha said.

“Or we have to argue more with Ross,” Tony shrugged. “See, we need the Avengers united together. What if we were still broken apart while the Frost Giants came here? Can you imagine what would have happened?”

The others thought about it.

“We can spend a day or two here,” Steve said. “We’ll figure something out soon.”

“And our guests are here!” Sam spoke up. He was grinning at his handphone screen.

Everyone turned to him.

“We were expecting more guests?” Tony frowned.

“Oh yes we were,” Sam smiled cheekily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who are the guests?  
> If you've got any feedback, you can leave a comment below. I'd be more than happy to read and reply! :)


	27. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guests are revealed and the team unite for one last night. Steve and Tony made it up to one another too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! How are you all? Thank God the weekend is here.  
> Alright, this is the last chapter for this story. I just want to say thank you so much to everyone for reading this, for leaving their feedback or kudos or even for bookmarking this. It really means so much to me, because I was so scared to upload this at first. But I had constant encouragement from my best friend Ash and I saw that you guys were interested to read too. So I kept going.  
> And here we are, at the end. I salute all of you who have reached here! :)  
> Thank you so much, guys!  
> Happy reading! :)

The elevator doors opened and two extremely excited figures walked out of it. They went down the hallway and turned into the beautiful penthouse.

“There they are!” Sam was grinning. “I called them once the battle ended and helped them with getting here.”

“Hi everyone,” both Linda and Kayla waved at the others.

“Now here are the two people I thought we’d never see again,” Bruce smiled. He gave them both a hug.

“Hey! I was planning on inviting them over soon!” Tony huffed.

“But I beat you to it,” Sam smirked.

“Ah, the two fine maidens,” Thor greeted them.

“Kayla and Linda!” Steve waved at them. They waved back at him.

“Welcome to the Avengers Tower!” Tony said.

“It looks nice!” Linda commented. She was still looking around, with awe.

“How are you guys?” Kayla asked the others.

“We’re okay. Just tired,” Clint replied. “Oh and meet King of Wakanda T’Challa also known as Black Panther, Vision our android, Colonel James Rhodes, War Machine and Scott who is Ant-Man.”

They exchanged greetings while Bruce went on to explain to the four of them about what the girls had done for them.

“Did you two manage to sell all the items?” Tony asked. There was another call coming from General Ross, but Tony cancelled it. He decided to take all the heat later on.

“Not really,” Kayla said. “The cots are up for sale, the clothes and some of the toys are sold, and we managed to sell off all the baby foods.”

“But it wasn’t easy,” Linda added. “A mother was willing to buy it at a lower price. Even lower than what they sold at the supermarket!”

Wanda chuckled at what Linda had said.

“We decided to give you all some of your things, like toys, which you all got close to when you guys were babies,” Kayla said, sounding reluctant. “We thought, you guys might want it.”

“Uh...” Tony was about to say something but Rhodey stopped him.

“I want to see what Tony was so fond of,” he grinned. “Where are they?”

“On the elevator with a man called… Happy,” Linda said, pointing at the hallway.

“Is it going to be embarrassing?” Natasha asked.

“Not really,” Steve said. He looked like he was reminiscing a fond incident.

“Is he still calling?” Rhodey asked Tony. He kept his volume low because he didn’t really want the others to hear. “You know I can take it and deal with it, right?”

“Rhodey,” Tony started to massage his forehead. The tablet’s screen lit up again, showing Ross calling. “We’re happy this once. Look around you. Everyone is back, looking relaxed and jovial. Yeah, we have problems looming around us. But, can we just enjoy this for a while? You deserve the happiness too you know. You’ve done a lot for me, for us. Take a break, Rhodey.”

Tony could swear he saw Rhodey controlling his facial expressions, making him look like he was trying not to cry. Tony gave his best friend’s shoulder a squeeze. Rhodey nodded his head. “But there’s something I’d like to do. You have another one of these right?”

“Yeah there are many tablets actually,” Tony said, eyeing Rhodey with suspicion.

That was enough for Rhodey. He slowly stood up, took the tablet and hurled it toward the wall on the left, where nobody was standing. Sam ducked his head in panic and the others stopped talking altogether. They all saw the tablet fly across the room. It shattered upon impact, cutting Ross’ incoming call entirely. Bucky and Wanda flinched at the sound, while the pieces landed on the floor. For a moment, the penthouse became too quiet.

“Did we… did we come here at the wrong time?” Linda asked.

“No,” both Tony and Rhodey said in unison.

“I had good reasons to do that,” Rhodey smiled. “We just didn’t want to talk to irritating idiots.” He made eye contact with Natasha, nodding his head. She immediately knew what the matter was.

Tony was trying to hide the smile on his face. “Rhodey was just… venting out some frustrations. He does this regularly. Hey, wasn’t there once you nearly decked me?” he snorted.

“Tony,” Rhodey said in a low voice, warning him to not go deeper into that point.

“So no worries!” Tony raised both his hands. “Hey, where are the stuff?”

Happy walked in with a box full of, things, right after Tony had asked that.

“There they are!” Kayla said. Happy placed the box in front of the two girls. He smiled at them and went to stand beside the couch. “Alright. This giant brown bird doll, which Clint was fond of. This little baby bear doll, which was Natasha’s favorite.”

“Oh, the Captain America and Iron Man plushies which Tony adored!” Linda laughed. Rhodey snorted at that, while Tony squeezed his eyes shut. “The other baby bear doll, which is chocolate brown, was the one Bucky loved. Wanda, your favorite blanket and Brucey, your animal toys.”

“There are a couple of other things, like the puzzles Tony and Wanda did, we took the liberty to frame them by the way, Clint’s toy telephone, the painting of a big goldfish done by Clint and Bucky, and Natasha’s and Bruce’s coloring books.” Kayla said. Both the girls had passed around the items. “Oh and we have a photo of Chippy.”

“Can I have it?” Bucky asked. He had a sad smile on his face.

Kayla gave the picture to him. He looked at it and ran his thumb along the image. Chippy was looking up at the camera directly with his tongue hanging out. He was smiling. Bucky really missed him. He placed the photo on his chest, cradling it and sighed.

Steve was smiling at the others. The memories of the kids running around and playing was still fresh in his mind. He could still hear their giggles and them fondly calling him, _Stee_ or _Steeb_.

“You were adamant about keeping those two, Tony,” Steve chuckled when he saw Tony examining the two plushies.

“Huh, I’m not surprised,” Tony said.

“Sam, please tell me the girls are staying here,” Bruce said. He was looking at the toys he had once played with.

“Yeah they are,” he replied. "Just for tonight though. They have a friend's place to visit and stay at from tomorrow."

“Good, we’ll have Chinese takeout and watch a film?” Bruce suggested.

“Sounds good,” Tony said. “You guys choose the film. I’ll be back.” He turned to Steve for help.

He carried Tony and placed him on the wheelchair.

“My room,” Tony smiled.

Both of them went to the elevator. They went a few levels down and exited it.

“Just like the good old days, right Steve?” Tony stretched. Steve kicked the room door shut. “Chinese takeout and a movie.”

“Yeah. Kind of missed that already,” Steve agreed.

Silence settled in the room for a few minutes. Steve was standing at the window, looking at the white fluffy clouds moving slowly across the cornflower blue skies. Tony had managed to sit at the edge of his bed. He carefully placed the two plushies near his pillows. He turned to look at Steve’s back.

After a sigh, Tony spoke. “So uh, you okay?”

“Yeah,” Steve’s answer came quickly. “Just… missed all these.”

“You missed the view so much?” Tony laughed.

Steve turned back to face Tony. “Yeah and how we were last time.”

“No worries, we can always start again.” Tony smiled.

Steve walked closer to Tony. “You know Tony, I should have done this a long time ago.”

Before Tony could ask what it was, Steve was kissing him. Tony immediately felt Steve’s nervousness when their lips crashed together. He kissed him back, to assure him that he wanted this too. Whatever emotions they had for each other and were hiding from one another were poured out into that one kiss. 

Steve slowly started to straighten up. He caressed Tony’s cheeks and had his eyes closed. Tony was sliding off the bed. But he didn’t care. A moment like this might never come back again as Steve and the others might go back into hiding. So Tony gave everything he got.

In a while, Tony was fully standing. He placed his arms on Steve’s hips and pulled him closer. He felt a sharp pain on both his ankles. But he still didn’t care. Tears were flowing out of his eyes, from out of both physical and emotional pain. In the end, Tony couldn’t take it. He involuntarily groaned into the kiss, in agony.

Steve sensed this. He broke the kiss, and both of them started to pant. That was when Tony saw the tears in Steve’s eyes. Without another word, Steve lifted Tony up, so that he was carrying him in a bridal style. He tilted his head forward and kissed Tony again.

Both of them went on for another minute.

Once they felt satisfied, they both withdrew.

“That was…” Tony was trying to catch his breath. “Wow, that was good.”

“And delayed,” Steve added.

He gently placed Tony on the edge of his bed. Both of them spent some time adjusting themselves and wiping their tears away.

“You know, I could actually stand you know,” Tony said.

Steve pursed his lips. “Just use the wheelchair till you fully recover.”

“Fine,” Tony rolled his eyes. “We should really get going. I bet Clint already caused two arguments with the others about the movies. Oh, and we should give the two girls, Scott and T’Challa a room to stay in.”

“There’s still time,” Steve smiled. “You should take a quick nap before going back up.”

“But-”

“No arguments.” Steve said firmly. “I’ll stay. A nap, just for a while.”

Tony shrugged. He slowly pulled himself to bed anyways. Steve joined him on the other side. He asked F.R.I.D.A.Y to reduce the light entering the room.

“Wow, I’m so tired,” Tony mumbled.

Steve let out a chuckle. He ruffled Tony’s hair and looked at him fondly.

After a few more minutes, Tony softly muttered, “Love you Steve.”

“Love you too, Tony.” Steve replied.

He asked the AI to wake them up in an hour. Both of them fell asleep within seconds, with Steve curling an arm around Tony’s hips.

…

“Okay they’re here!” Clint grinned at Steve who was pushing Tony’s wheelchair in. “F.R.I.D.A.Y, roll the movie!”

After at least 3 arguments, everyone had decided to watch Forrest Gump. They had also decided to eat dinner first and then watch the film together. Tony brought them to their entertainment lounge. It was in a soundproof room and had a big screen. There were a couple of couches around. It looked like a mini theatre.

“Gosh I missed this,” Bruce smiled. He and Natasha chose the loveseat on the right. Within seconds, they were settled in.

Wanda sat down on another loveseat, which was on the left of the room, with Vision. There was a long couch in the middle, where Rhodey, T’Challa, Scott, Bucky, Thor and Kayla were already sitting on. Sam was sitting on a bean bag chair beside Rhodey.

Clint shut the door and walked in with Linda. They both had decided to sit on the floor and watch the film.

“Hey Linda,” Tony called her. He was on his wheelchair. “Have a second?”

“Yeah?” she smiled at him.

“Do you uh, do you have the photos and videos of us when we were de-aged?”

“Yeah I do. I made a video compilation out of them and it’s in my phone. I was about to give it to you guys tomorrow morning,” Linda replied.

“Is it alright if I watch it now?” Tony asked.

“Uh… I don’t mind. But the movie..?”

“I’ve watched Forrest Gump twice already. I’d like to view the videos, please.”

“Alright. It’s 20 minutes, split into two parts.” Linda took out her phone. She gave it to Tony and joined Clint on the floor.

Steve slowly shifted Tony to the couch. He then sat beside him. The lights dimmed and the movie started playing.

“Hey, keep your phone away,” Steve whispered to Tony.

“It’s Linda’s. And I’m about to watch the videos of me and the others when we were de-aged,” Tony whispered back.

Steve gave the phone his full attention. Tony plugged in an earpiece and gave Steve one side. He hit the play button and started watching the first ten minutes.

Tony saw the video of him pulling Bucky to him when they were both about to fall off from the chair. He saw Steve pulling them towards him and steadying the chair. It took place on Tony's little birthday party.

“Wow,” Tony whispered.

He rested his head on Steve’s firm chest. Steve pulled Tony closer to him and allowed his warmth to embrace Tony.

And so all of them enjoyed their one night together. The next day, Thor might be going back to Asgard to seek answers, Steve and some others might go back to Wakanda, along with T’Challa, Natasha might have to leave the Tower. And Tony and Rhodey would have to talk to General Ross. It was going to be the dull days for Tony. But Bruce was joining him in the Tower, so, it should be slightly alright.

However that was all in the future. The team was living in the present. And they all knew things were going to be fine. Deep down, they knew that their unity would enable them to take down the foes no single heroes could.

 

\---END---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was the story? Feedback is welcomed and deeply appreciated. If you have anything to say, please leave a comment below. I'd be very happy to read them and reply! :)


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